The Prodigy
by DeathbyFanfiction1029
Summary: What if due to safety the Pokemon League decided to raise the starting trainer age to 13? How would this affect Ash and co.? Imagine a more mature, smarter Ash embarking on his Kanto journey prepared, and ready to take the Pokemon world by storm.
1. Chapter 1: Dreams on Hold

A/N: Hey Everyone! Welcome to my first attempt at fanfiction! My name is DeathbyFanfiction1029 or DBF for short. I've been reading fanfiction for a while now but never had the time to attempt writing it. I've got a couple ideas for stories, but I think I want to start out with this one. Basically, the plot of this story is Ash going through the regular Kanto journey while being smarter and more mature. I'll also be throwing in a few side arcs as I see fit. For everyone worried that this will be an out of character "super Ash" story, it won't be. He's still a 13 year old boy who will be similar to the original Ash, but will be mixed with a little more maturity and intellect. If this story goes good enough, I plan on running through the Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh arcs too with my own personal touches. If you're an original Pokemon fan I'm sure that you'll enjoy this because I'll personally see to it that Ash doesn't make the same mistakes over and over again, one of the things that has been a big turn off to me, and I'm sure many fans of the anime.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. As like all authors I've read on here, I'm gonna ask all of you to read and review to help improve my writing. I've got many ideas for this story so unless life prevents me, I should be able to update regularly once I get the hang of this. That's enough of me rambling for now. Enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon! If I did, Ash would've finally won a league, Ash would've finally aged a year (did anyone else catch that on the first episode of the new season?), and the new Pokemon wouldn't look so retarded.

The Prodigy

Chapter 1: Dreams on Hold

The rays of the full blue moon enveloped peaceful Pallet Town like a beacon of light in the surrounding darkness. Situated in the beautiful farmland of the southwest corner of Kanto, Pallet Town had a rustic aura to it due to its distance from the hectic city life of Saffron and Celadon. Despite naturally being calm, there was much excitement found in the Pallet air. Tomorrow was day that the next generation of Pokemon trainers would be receiving their first pokemon from Professor Oak and beginning their journeys.

The light of the moon seemed to shine brighter on one particular window than anywhere else in town. That said window belonging to 10 year old Ash Ketchum, a wanna-be pokemon master who would be beginning his journey the following morning. Currently, Ash is sitting in his starter pokemon pjs mesmerized by the high level battle taking place on his TV…

_A fierce looking Nidorino charged at a menacing Gengar. As it was about to make contact, Gengar suddenly lashes out with its arm sending the Nidorino flying away only to land right back on its feet. "And Nidorino begins the battle with a horn attack!" cried the announcer to the boisterous stadium full of spectators. "But Gengar bounces right back!" Gengar raises its arms as a psychic wave floats towards Nidorino. "And there it is! the hypnosis power of Gengar!" Nidorino attempts to fight off the effects of hypnosis but slowly its eyes being to droop…_

"_This could be the end of Nidorino!" When suddenly a red beam shoots from the edge of the battlefield recalling Nidorino to its pokeball. Bruno, a member of the esteemed Kanto Elite 4, knew better than to leave his Nidorino asleep at the mercy of his opponent, Agatha's Gengar. Quickly going over his options, he decides to go with one of his most trusted pokemon. "Go, Onix!" he yelled as he threw the pokeball onto the field. "Rooooaaarrr!" the fierce cry of Onix was capable of intimidating even the most experienced pokemon._

"Wow! look at the size of that Onix!" yelled Ash with his eyes fixed on the screen. "Ash!" came a yell from downstairs. "Get to bed or you'll never get up in time to get your first pokemon!"

"Okay mom! I just wanna see the end of this battle!" replied Ash. "Fine! but as soon as that battle is done I want your butt in bed mister!" she hollered back.

"Geeze, you'd never know I was leaving on a journey by myself tomorrow from the way she talks to me… " grumbled Ash as he returned his attention back to the screen.

"_Both trainers are now down to their last pokemon! Which ones will they choose to send out now?" yelled the announcer to the endless sea of fans. Tension filled the air as Bruno and Agatha both reached for their final pokeball… "Folks what we're witnessed is truly astounding!" cried the announcer again. "Both of these trainers have dedicated their lives to pokemon and have put in countless hours of training to get where they are today! No matter the outcome of this match, these two magnificent trainers should serve as role models to trainers everywhere!"_

Now normally those words would pass right through the thick skull of Ash considering that he's normally too focused on the battle to notice anything else. However as the saying goes, once in a blue moon, he managed to hear those words in the midst of the battle. What he would not realize though, is that those words would set off a chain of events that would influence Ash for the rest of his life.

"_Wow, he's right_" thought Ash. "_I can only imagine all the work and preparation that those two must have put in to get where they're at today_. _Come to think of it, what exactly have I done to prepare myself for tomorrow other than just thinking about which starter I wanted…"_

His train of thought was interrupted by the loud sound of applause that came from the TV. On the screen was Agatha celebrating with her second Gengar while Bruno was consoling his defeated Hitmonchan. "No I missed the ending!" he yelled. The last thing shown from the battle was the audience applauding both trainers for an excellent battle before the TV cut to commercials. "Ash! Is that battle over yet?" yelled his mom from downstairs. "This is your last warning, get to bed now!"

"Alright I'm going!" he yelled as he turned off the TV. Looking out his window before he laid down for bed, he took one last good look at his hometown. "Man, I never realized how nice this place really is, I'm gonna miss it when I'm gone" he noted as his attention was suddenly drawn to the blue moon.

As he stared at the rare sight, there was one persistent thought stuck in his head that was nagging him from before. "_Am I really ready for this journey?..." _"Of course I am! Cause I'm Ash Ketchum and I'm gonna be a Pokemon Master!" he decided to proclaim loudly while posing out his window only to be met with the cries of many upset wild pokemon who had just had their sleep disturbed. With that out of his system and his pride somewhat back intact, Ash decided to go to sleep failing to notice that his glory pose knocked his Voltorb alarm clock off his nightstand to be smashed into oblivion…

(The Following Morning 8 a.m.)

The sun rose over the hills of Pallet town. The morning cries of Pidgeys and Spearows pierced the cool morning air. All across Pallet people were kicking off their day and the group who were to receive their first pokemon was eagerly making their way to Professor Oak's lab…

(3 hours later…)

"Ash wake up! You've overslept! There's not gonna be any pokemon left for you when you finally get there!" was the first thing that Ash heard as he returned to the land of the living. "What are you talking about?,,, *notices alarm clock smashed on floor* What happened to my alarm clock! Mom, what time is it!" yelled Ash finally realizing the predicament he's in.

"It's 11 honey!" came her reply. "I've got breakfast waiting for you on table so hurry up and get down here!" That was the last thing his mom had to say as Ash threw the covers off and raced as fast as he could to his dresser. Quickly throwing on his jeans, black t-shirt, and blue and white jacket he noticed something was missing…

"My hat!" he suddenly yelled. He immediately began frantically searching his room for his treasured hat. It wasn't just any ordinary hat, no; it was an official Pokemon League Expo. Hat. There was no way he was going to leave that thing at home considering what he had to go through to get it. He had to send in like a million postcards for that hat!

Suddenly, he spotted his hat lying under his bed. "How did that get there?" he wondered. "Oh well, I gotta get going!" grabbing his backpack, Ash ran downstairs to his awaiting mother. "Finally! your breakfast is cold. Hurry up and eat it so you can get down to Professor Oaks!" she scolded.

Ash bolted over to the table and shoveled his breakfast of bacon and eggs in at a pace that would put even his normal eating habits to shame. Quickly finishing, Ash sprung out of his seat and ran to the living room to throw on his shoes.

"Good luck honey, make sure you head straight over there" his mom said as she walked in right behind him.

"Thanks mom! I will!" Ash hollered as he ran out the front door, through his front yard and up the Pallet town dirt road.

Running as fast as his legs could carry him, Ash ran down the dirt road passing the neighboring houses without a second glance. _"Ahhhh, I can't believe I slept in! I can't become a pokemon master if I don't even have a pokemon!"_ Such thoughts only cause Ash to increase his pace even more.

After a solid ten minutes of running, Ash finally reached Professor Oaks' front gate and was met with a very confusing sight. Standing in front the gate was Professor Oak, Gary, and an official looking guy with a pokemon league symbol on his shirt.

From what Ash could tell, Gary was extremely pissed about something. What that something was, Ash couldn't tell. But from what Ash saw as he approached the three in front of the gate, Gary was really giving it to his grandfather and the other man.

"What do you mean I can't go on my journey right now? Do you know how long I've been waiting for this?" Ash heard Gary howl at the two older men.

That instantly set Ash on edge that something might be wrong as he decided to voice his opinion "Why can't Gary go on his journey? What's going on?" Ash cut in.

"Oh Ashy-boy, way to finally show up! It's terrible!" yelled Gary.

"Now Ash," Professor Oak, the famous Pokemon researcher who has a lab in Pallet town began looking a little nervous, "It seems like we have some sudden news from the Pokemon League and there's a little problem…"

"You're damn right there's a problem here gramps!" yelled Gary cutting in. "What gives this guy the right to tell me I have to wait another three years to start my journey? I've been waiting 10 years for this moment!" complained Gary.

"Watch your tongue Gary, and what gives these people the right? Gary, they are THE Pokemon League, they have the right to do whatever they want concerning rules." said the Professor.

"Wait; will someone please explain to me what's going on here?" Ash cut in.

"I believe I can do that for you young man." said the official looking man inserting himself into the conversation.

"Who are you?" asked Ash.

"I'm an officer from the Pokemon League executive office" he responded.

"Ok, well why are you here telling Gary he can't go on his journey? As much as I would love for that to happen cause of all the stuff he's done to me, (In the background…Hey!) we're both 10 and today's the day we're allowed to get our first pokemon."

"Well normally you would be right, but unfortunately there has been a change in the rules for beginning trainers" he answered.

"What?" Ash yelled. _"No! This can't be happening! Now I know why Gary was so mad earlier, I've been waiting 10 years for this!"_ he thought.

"Yes I'm afraid so, due to the recent results we've received from an investigation, as of now, all new trainers must wait until the age of 13 to leave on a journey."

"Are you serious!" Ash exclaimed. "You have to be joking! What kind of investigation made you make that decision?"

"Yeah! Why are you doing this to us?" Gary added.

"It's not just you two I have to do this to boys, and the reason we decided to do this was for your safety. Last year we did an investigation on how rookie trainers do on their first journey and unfortunately, the results from that experiment made the decision for us." he countered.

"Now you've got me interested" said the Professor who had been quiet up until this point. "How in the world were you able to monitor these trainers without their notice and what do you mean that the results made the decision for you?" continued the Professor.

"Well Professor Oak, safety has always been high on the agenda for the league and due to the safety of our trainers slipping the last few years, we began an experiment at the beginning of last year. We hired 100 teenagers who were willing to befriend rookie trainers, and would then go on their journeys with them while keeping an eye on how they progress…" the official began.

"Now that's an invasion of privacy!" yelled the Professor actually starting to lose his cool. "How is setting these kids up with people who they believe are their friends, but are actually your agents in reality right for them?"

"We only did it to ensure their safety Professor Oak." the official returned, not backing down to the Professor's challenge. "And after receiving the results from their respective trainers, I have to say that we did the right thing by conducting that investigation and by increasing the starting age."

"Would you care to share these justifying results with us then?" said the Professor.

"Yes I would actually if it will make you realize why we made this decision" began the official. "Out of the 100 rookie trainers we had shadowed by our agents, 22 quit their journey after a week, 31 became hopelessly lost and may have died in the wilderness if it weren't for our agents, 14 had all of their possessions and pokemon stolen, 43 pokemon were abandoned, and let's not forget about the casualties. Unfortunately, we had 13 pokemon casualties and 3 trainer casualties…" finished the official in a solemn manner.

Hearing those statistics made the color drain from the Professor, Ash, and Gary's faces faster than encountering a Haunter in a deserted back alley.

"Gramps, are those facts for real?" stuttered Gary, officially scared senseless.

"My god, I knew things like that weren't uncommon on some people's first journeys but I would have never guessed the stats were that high…" was the only intelligent response the Professor could come up with.

"…." Ash remained silent as the official continued.

"So now that you know why we made our decision, those rookies that you see at the end of the year at the Indigo Plateau, those are the lucky and well prepared ones. Most rush into their journey before they're ready and end up as a statistic…" finished the official.

"Well, I may not agree with how you went about getting your statistics, but I do agree with increasing the age after hearing you out." said the humbled Professor Oak.

"Gramps you can't be serious! I promise I'll be careful, I won't end up like one of those other kids!" countered Gary.

"I'm sorry Gary, but after hearing why the league decided to make this decision, I can't support you leaving right…"

"NO!" yelled Ash startling everyone else as he cried out. "I will not wait another three years to begin my journey! So what if that stuff happened to other kids? I will never quit and I will not give up until I become a Pokemon Master! I'll prove this guy and everyone else at the league wrong! Just wait! You'll see my name in the finals at the Indigo Plateau!" yelled Ash fiercely.

"Ash I'm sorry" began the Professor. "But even if I wanted to I can't go against the league and send you out there now. And I'm afraid that decision is final, you're waiting for three more years." finished the Professor.

"Tell me kid, what is your name?" asked the official to Ash.

"My name is Ash Ketchum, future Pokemon Master and don't you forget it!" Ash responded.

"Well Ash, I'm sorry I have to keep you waiting for a couple more years, but I really like your fire and I can tell you mean every word you said by looking at your eyes." began the official.

"I don't often see new trainers with that drive and determination you seem to have. I might just have to tell Lance to keep an eye out for one Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in the next couple of years" finished the official with a wink.

"You do that! Tell Lance not to get comfortable cause I'm coming for his title!" Ash proclaimed.

"All right kid, I'll let him know" the official chuckled. "And with that, my job is done here, I'll hopefully hear from you boys in a couple years. It was nice meeting you all despite the bad news I had to bring you. With that I'll be on my way." the official turned with a wave and steadily made his way down the Pallet dirt road.

"How can you just let him tell us what to do like that?" Gary raged. "I'll be back when people start making sense around here." said Gary as he stormed back inside the lab.

"Geeze Professor, do you think Gary will be alright?" asked Ash as he watched Gary close the door behind him.

"He'll be fine Ash; that hotheaded grandson of mine just needs some time to cool down. Judging from his reaction to the statistics I'm sure that he'll understand why he can't leave right now. What I am surprised about is that fact that you seem to be taking this so well. I assumed you would've done the same thing right after finished yelling about how you would be a Pokemon Master." continued the Professor.

"Well," Ash started. "At first I was just as mad if not more as Gary was. But after a remembering a couple thoughts I had last night I realized maybe a couple more years of waiting wouldn't hurt."

"What kind of thoughts could those possibly be? For as long as I've known you you've been waiting your entire life to get your first pokemon. And not to mention you're not exactly the most prone to thinking." the Professor finished while laughing.

"Hey! I can think!" Ash yelled back with a glare. "But anyway, last night I was having a few doubts about how prepared I actually has for my journey."

"Wow Ash, that's very unlike you. I expected you to come running into my lab screaming for a pokemon and arguing with Gary about who'd be the better trainer."

"Yes, well don't tell Gary I said this, but I've actually been having a few doubts about myself after watching Bruno and Agatha battle on TV last night" said Ash embarrassed.

"Ah yes, I watched that battle myself. It was a great battle indeed between two giants of the pokemon world. And let me guess, was it when the announcer mentioned how much hard they put in that has you doubting yourself? said the Professor with a keen eye.

"Whoa, how did you know Professor?" asked a shocked Ash.

"Call it many years of experience coming in handy my boy, now what about that has you doubting yourself? Because I've never seen you doubt yourself before in any of your countless competitions with Gary."

"Well, I kinda feel like I don't know enough about pokemon" he admitted.

"Really? Because all I ever hear you talking about is pokemon." asked a confused Oak.

"Not like that. I mean I don't think I know enough facts about pokemon. Like battle strategies, training methods, moves, natural advantages, I was just gonna wing it with whatever pokemon I got, but now I feel like I owe that pokemon to be more knowledgeable about it so that I can help it become the best pokemon it can be." finished Ash.

"Ash I'm very proud of you. Most trainers never look at things that way and just charge into battle with their pokemon like you were going to do. With that attitude, the dream of becoming a Pokemon Master may not be completely unattainable." said an impressed Professor.

"Wow you really think so Professor Oak?" Ash asked with stars in his eyes.

"Yes my boy, if you spend these next three years learning those things you just mentioned to me and more, you'll be way ahead of the competition."

"But Professor, how can I learn all of that stuff if I'm not allowed to have pokemon for another three years? he asked.

"I believe I can help you out with that. What if for these next three years you work for me up at the lab with the pokemon? What better way to learn about different types of pokemon than to get hands-on experience with the hundreds of pokemon I have out back? And as payment for working for me, I'll teach you those things you wanted to know and anything else I find important for you. What do you say?" offered the Professor.

"Wow, you'd really do that for me Professor?" asked a dumbstruck Ash.

"Yes I would Ash" said Oak with a smile on his face. "I agree with the official in the fact that I believe you have a lot of potential. And don't tell Gary I told you this, but I believe he's more suited to becoming a Pokemon Researcher like myself. Now I'm going to warn you, if you agree to this, it's not going to be easy. You'll have to spend many long hours working with many different types of pokemon each with specific needs. And for me teaching you, you have to be willing to pay attention and research things when I tell you too." finished the Professor.

"You don't have to worry about me Professor! I won't let you down! Please let me work with you!" yelled Ash.

"I knew you wouldn't Ash. If that's the case, then we'll get you started in the next couple days."

"Ash! Congratulations on your first pokemon! Which one did you get?" yelled Delia Ketchum as she approached them.

"Yeah mom about that… there's been a change in plans." said Ash as he began filling his mom in on what had just transpired.

"Oh honey that's great!" Delia exclaimed with a joyous smile on her face.

"Wait a second, you mean you're not surprised or angry at all about what happened?" he questioned.

"Of course not! My little boy is gonna be at home with me for another three years."

"Mom, I'm not a little boy anymore…" groaned Ash with an annoyed look on his face.

"I know you're not honey, I just like to tease you about it. But in all honesty though, I am happy that you're not leaving on your journey yet."

"Why mom? Just the other day you were telling me how proud of me that I was growing up and going on my own journey." he questioned.

"That's what I told you, but it wasn't exactly how I felt." she began. "Honestly, I didn't think you were quite ready to go out there all by yourself. I was counting on the hope that you would find some nice friends to journey with to keep you inline. But now, I have another three years to beat some sense into you." Delia finished with a slightly creepy smile.

"Whatever you say mom." Ash said worried about how his mom plans to "beat" some sense into him.

"Well today sure has been an eventful day. I'd love to stay and talk some more but I have to go attend to the pokemon. Ash I'll see you bright and early tomorrow here at 8'oclock sharp, don't be late. Take care Delia, and don't work him too hard at home, I need him nice and fresh for his work here." with that the Professor turned and made his way up the step and into the lab.

"Well Ash, we might as well start making our way home. I'll be so nice having you around for another three years. If you think Professor Oak will be the only one teaching you things, you've got another thing coming young man." his mother joked.

"What do you plan on teaching me mom?" Ash asked as they turned and started make their way home up the Pallet dirt road.

"Well, since you're old enough now that you hopefully won't burn the house down, I was thinking about teaching you how to cook. How did you plan on surviving out there without knowing how to cook?" his mother asked with a suspicious look.

"Ummm, well I could've eaten some of the berries in the trees.." Ash said sheepishly.

"Now that won't do, that's it, I'm officially giving you cooking 101, not to mention we need to shape up your manners, people skills, navigation, and not to mention the most important one" his mom said with a menacing gleam in her eyes, "I'll have to teach you how to get a girlfriend so you can start working on getting me some grandkids."

"Ewww Moooommmm! Why would you even mention that?" he responded disgusted.

"Well its true honey, those first things I mentioned are necessary, and the last one is pretty important too, do you want to be known by all the girls you meet as the dense kid who can't take a hint?" she continued.

"I guess you're right when you put it that way… But does it have to be you teaching me that? You're my mom, I don't wanna learn about those kinds of things from you." he complained.

"That's the spirit!" Delia said with joy. "And who else are you gonna learn about those things from? Professor Oak? He will be teaching you many things but he's a little old to be teaching you any girl skills that have worked in the last decade. And I'm the best one who could possibly teach you anyway! In case you've forgotten I am a girl too you know." she finished.

"You're not a girl, you're a mom" mumbled Ash under his breath. "Ok then, I guess we'll add those things to my personal learning agenda for the next three years" Ash added with false sarcasm.

"I heard that young man! And don't you worry, by the time I'm finished with you, there won't be a girl who'll be able to resist you! And that reminds me, I'll have to teach you what kind of girls to go after and which kind are trouble…" she said as she continued making a mental checklist in her head.

"What have I unleashed?" Ash asked sarcastically. "Why don't we just go home for now, I've had a long day and I could really use some rest…" Ash finished.

"You're right honey, lets pick up the pace, I think I might have left the roast in the oven and if you want dinner tonight we better get home now." she said as they both picked up the pace.

With that, Ash and Delia made their way home to relax and prepare for the next three years. Flying high above them just out of their line of sight was a magnificent rainbow-colored bird making its way across the sky. As it was about to break into Ash's view, it it suddenly made a u-turn and disappeared before it could be spotted with a seemingly annoyed expression on its face. It was as if it knew that it would have to wait awhile before attempting this again…

A/N: Wow, that went a lot smoother than expected. If you've taken the time to read this all the way here, I want to thank you for checking out my writing and I hope you've enjoyed it. I'll try to keep this going as regularly as I can so keep an eye out for future chapters.

Once again, thanks for reading. Please review and I'll answer any questions that anyone may have.

DBF out


	2. Chapter 2: A New Partner, a New Friend

**A/N:** Wow, I can't believe how well that first chapter went! I want to personally thank everyone who read and reviewed and added this story to their favorites and alerts. There are no words to describe the feeling of waking up the next morning after publishing your first fanfic and seeing so many positive reviews and comments. Now I'm not one of those stuck up authors who'll only write if I get a certain amount of reviews, but I have to admit, it's really awesome reading positive feedback on your story!

I also want to take a little bit of time to address those reviewers as thanks for their review.

**Tempest86: **I'm very glad that you like the story! To answer your question, yes Ash will be getting all of those pokemon similar to the way he did in cannon. As to who he'll get first, well, read on…

**Tendou Souji: **Thank you for your very long and descriptive review! I checked out Zenith League and I have to say that I agree that we have similar writing styles. By the way, I really enjoyed your story, I may not have been writing long on here, but I have been reading for a long time and can appreciate a well written story when I see one. I'm glad that you're an honest reviewer and it's good to know that I have someone who'll crack the whip on my ass if my writing becomes sloppy.

**Kaiser Haller: **I'm glad that you enjoy the plot that I came up with. Good luck learning English!

**Vital Info: **I really enjoyed your review. I'm glad that I was able to bring back so many good memories, in my opinion, that is exactly what fanfiction should do. Hopefully this chapter should answer some of your questions and might give you an idea of what the answers are for the others. Hopefully I can continue to make this into THE story for original Pokemon fans.

**exeafirm: **Thank you, and here you go.

**saveme57:** I'm glad that you liked the Ho-oh scene. It was something that popped into my head last minute and I didn't know how people would like it.

**partner555: **I also really enjoy realistic smart Ash stories, they help make up for how stupid he is in the newer anime. Unfortunately, there aren't that many good ones on here so if you can't read them, write them. It's very good to know that you believe I succeeded in those areas you mentioned; I wanted those to be the cornerstones of my story.

**Shades of Grey: **Thanks for the review! I'm very happy that you think my story flows well, that was by far my greatest concern about my writing and the development of this story.

Thank you to my un-named reviewer as well.

Finally, I want to give a shout out to all of my foreign readers. After just one chapter, I ended up with readers from 28 countries! That's amazing and it really makes some kid from Pennsylvania feel like he's connected with the world. Please keep reading and I hope you enjoy the story!

Thank you everyone who reviewed last chapter! For all of those who were waiting for this one and for any potential new readers, enjoy the story!

**Disclaimer: **It's unfortunate to say, but apparently I don't own Pokemon. If I did, there would finally be a good Pokemon RPG on a home console! (Haven't you ever fantasized about exploring Kanto and battling Pokemon in interactive 3-D? I know I have…)

The Prodigy

Chapter 2: A New Partner, a New Friend

"Why did I ever agree to this!" shouted a twelve year old Ash Ketchum drenched by water from a mischievous Seadra as he was in the process of feeding the hundreds of Pokemon that inhabit Professor Oak's ranch.

Yes, for last two years Ash has been working under Professor Oak at his lab and it had been quite eventful to say the least. It had been the same routine every week for him, but as he quickly learned, things never went according to schedule.

During the weekdays, everything always started at 8'clock. At that time Ash would normally turn up at the Professor's door half asleep with a dead expression on his face. From then until 8:30, they would have a light breakfast of rice balls and morning tea, and Ash would usually have to sit through one of the Professor's poems.

Despite them being very long and boring, Ash knew better than to disrespect the man giving him such a great opportunity by telling him so. After sitting around listening to the Professor's poems for about 5 minutes, Ash had to pull himself together for the next part of his agenda, feeding all of the pokemon their breakfast.

That's where Ash really had to wake up and get moving as he had to deal with the various types of pokemon's food preferences, eating habits, and worst of all, their attitudes.

Some of the pokemon on Oak's ranch just plain didn't like Ash, one of those pokemon being Seadra. There is a story however for the reason behind its blatant animosity…

_10 year old Ash Ketchum was currently being given a tour of Professor Oak's ranch by the man himself. Ash couldn't believe just how many different types of pokemon inhabited the ranch and was barely paying attention to his newfound teacher and mentor as they made their way through the various environments._

_He was broken from his reverie as he heard the Professor say "Ah, and here we have the water pokemon habitat" Oak commented with pride._

"_Wow…" was the only word Ash could force out at the sight before him. In front of him laid a large lake with surrounding swamps filled to the brim with every type of water pokemon one could imagine._

_He saw Goldeen and Seaking race across the water at speeds so great that they seemed to skip above the surface. _

_He saw Tentacool and Tentacruel bobbing up and down in the sea water pokemon area as the sun light reflected off their red jeweled heads._

_He saw a gang of Squirtle and Wartortle populate a small island in the middle of the lake surrounding what seemed to be their ringleader, a strong looking Blastoise._

_Finally, he saw a fearsome Gyarados rocket out of the water with a menacing cry before diving back beneath the waves it had just created._

"_It's wonderful isn't it?" the Professor quipped, "There truly is no sight more wonderful than experiencing the miracle of pokemon in touch with nature, it's partly one of the reason why I decided to dedicate my entire life to the research of pokemon." the Professor finished with a calm vibe._

"_Professor, I can't believe this, this is unreal…" he said, his brain utterly stupefied by the magnificent sight of pokemon and nature bonding before him._

_What Ash failed to notice however, is that as he was gawking at the water pokemon, he was steadily walking closer to the lake without paying attention to what was in front of him when suddenly…_

"_Whoaaa!" "Horseeaa!" he tripped over something and fell headfirst into the lake with a glorious splash._

"_Ash!" the Professor yelled in concern._

"_What just happened?" Ash asked as he surfaced disoriented. Suddenly a bright light enveloped the water right next to him successfully freaking him out as he had never seen such a sight before._

"_Professor! What the heck is happening?" Ash yelled as he quickly attempted to swim to shore._

"_Well Ash, that looks like a pokemon evolution from what I'm seeing but I don't know what pokemon that could be evolving. I just saw you walking towards the lake with a Horsea sitting by the shore and…" fear dawned on the Professor's face as he realized what had just happened. "Ash quick, get out of there!" he yelled._

"_I'm trying to! But what's going on? he cried as he frantically increased his pace. All of a sudden loud violin music started playing out of nowhere as a fin of some water pokemon surfaced from the water and began circling him…Duh Duh, Duh Duh, Duh Duh, Duh Duh Duh Duh Duh !_

"_Professor!" Ash yelled now in complete terror. "What the hell is going on? What is that? and where is the violin music coming from?"_

"_I don't know boy! But less thinking and more swimming!" Oak yelled back now equally freaked out by the mysterious deep violin music._

_All of a sudden the music died down and the fin disappeared. "Where did it go?" Ash breathed out through the tension filled air._

"_I don't know Ash, but hurry up and get out of there before it comes back" replied the Professor._

_Suddenly, bubbles began forming around Ash as the water began to turn violent and turbulent. "AHHHHH!" At last a giant geyser of water rocketed out from the water beneath Ash propelling him a good 12 feet in the air before dropping him oh so subtlety on ground next to the Professor._

"_Owwwww" groaned Ash as rolled around on ground next to the Professor who was running damage control as he began checking Ash over._

"_Ash! Can you hear me? Are you ok?" the Professor asked frantically while imagining what Delia would do to him if he returned Ash in pieces after day one._

"_Yeah, I'll be fine Professor, but now can you please explain to me what exactly that was?" he groaned as he began to sit up._

"_Thank god, do you even know what your mom would do to me if I hurt her little Ashy?" Oak said in a female voice imitating his mom. "Anyway, what happened was-" suddenly the Professor froze in fear as he shakily began to raise his arm to point behind him, "th-th-that…" the Professor managed to stutter out._

_Slowly turning his head to look behind him, he was met with the sight of a freshly evolved, thoroughly pissed off Seadra with a tick mark above its head. Suddenly it drew back its head and began firing off Water Guns and Bubblebeams at the two males._

"_Run!" they both shouted as Ash sprung up and both of them began to book it away from the water pokemon habitat while dodging and failing to dodge a few of the numerous projectiles coming their way._

"_I think, we finally, lost it!" the elderly pokemon researcher said between deep breaths as they began to approach the fire pokemon area._

"_That was crazy!" Ash gasped equally winded as he was bent over attempting to catch his breath._

"_Ash! You've got to pay attention while you're back here! I don't think fire will simply dry out of our clothes like this water will if you pull another stunt like that over here!" Oak scolded._

"_I'm sorry Professor! I didn't mean it! I was just looking at all of the pokemon and the next thing I know I'm headfirst in the water and then that happened!" Ash replied back to him._

"_I forgive you Ash, I know it was just an honest mistake, but seriously though, you need to pay attention while you're back here. Can I trust you out here alone with all of these pokemon while I might be working on something inside and not have to worry about you causing a massive free-for-all pokemon battle?" the Professor asked hypothetically with a critical look._

"_You can trust me Professor! I promise you it won't happen again!" Ash pleaded desperately._

"_Very well then, I'll trust you. Regardless however, we might have to keep you away from the water pokemon habitat for awhile." the Professor chuckled as his anger dissipated and the situation quickly diffused._

Despite it not being as malicious as it was at first, that Seadra never did drop its grudge with Ash. Everyday Ash is accustomed to a complementary Water Gun to the face when he comes to feed the water pokemon breakfast and dinner respectively.

Other than the Seadra, nothing else bad really happens to Ash consistently every day. Sure you have your occasional rampaging pokemon or other random disputes around the ranch, but hey, what's life without some complications?

Getting back on track, Ash would usually finish dishing out all of the pokemon's breakfast by around 10:30. Then Ash would head inside, his next destination being the lab where he would rejoin Professor Oak for the next two hours helping him conduct experiments, treat sick pokemon, or run various other tests on some of the pokemon.

After that, Ash and the Professor would check on the pokemon one last time before running over to Ash's house at around 12:45 for lunch. Delia had quickly made it a tradition of inviting both of them over for a home cooked lunch after she discovered just how hard both of them worked at the lab. Not that either of them complained, it was no secret that Mrs. Ketchum had some of the best cooking in all of Pallet Town.

After both giving Mrs. Ketchum compliments on the food, Ash and the Professor would make their way back to the lab and into the spare room that was converted and dubbed as "the classroom". There, for the next three hours, Ash would sit and attempt to absorb all of the information he could from the walking encyclopedia of pokemon that accompanied him.

Ash had really surprised Oak with his dedication and how he really could use his head when the situation called for it. Despite lacking common sense, Ash proved to him that he really is a genius when it comes to pokemon. Ash even does consistently well on all of the pop quizzes that he randomly springs on him from time to time.

The Professor and Ash agreed to plan out his curriculum like this: for the first hour, they would begin with strategy, like using a battlefield to your advantage, or how to turn an opponent's greatest strength into their final downfall. The Professor would grill Ash each day with a new battle scenario and Ash would have to come up ways on the spot and under pressure to work around handicaps, complications, and other variables in order to outsmart, and systematically defeat his opponent.

The second hour would be much less demanding and would basically consist of general knowledge of the pokemon world. Facts like geography, gym leaders, elite 4, and other prominent trainers of each region were all covered. Basically, anything that Ash would have to know to sound like an intelligent, well informed trainer to any passerby just meeting him was learned in this time.

Finally, for the final hour, Oak and Ash would go through meat and potatoes of his education, the pokemon. Ash and the Professor laid out a plan that would have him learning 50 of the 151 pokemon per year, excluding Mew and Mewtwo, as not enough information was known about either of them.

This was easily the most intense and memory dependent portion of Ash's curriculum as he learned everything from each pokemon's battle moves, base statistics, TM moves, HM moves, anatomy, movement, and any other crucial information that could potentially swing a battle in his favor. Ash surprised Oak yet again with how fast he was able to absorb the tiny bits of knowledge concerning pokemon; he was practically a pokemon sponge!

What really impressed Oak however, was that Ash would not let the Holy Grail of pokemon information he was giving him go to his head. Whenever they were done in the classroom, he would instantly regain his down-to-earth personality and walk out with a slightly goofy smile on his face like a normal kid his own age. Oak really appreciated that about Ash and knew in the long run that those qualities would take him far not only as a trainer, but as a person.

After taking a quick break after their study session, around 4:30 Oak would lead Ash out to his personal battlefield for the highlight of Ash's day, battle practice. Now one may ask, why does Professor Oak, an esteemed Pokemon Researcher own his own battlefield? Well, despite becoming a researcher, Professor Oak was known as quite the trainer in his own heyday. And having Ash around for a daily beatdow…I mean battle, Oak felt the need to splurge a little bit for a battlefield to "regain some of his youth" as he would say.

Call it a midlife crises more or less. Oh, and did I mention he was an amazing trainer? There was a reason he was once known as Samuel make like a tree and leave before he battles you Oak. Ash would learn that very soon into his training. Very soon as in, the first time he battled him and couldn't leave a single mark on the Professor's pokemon.

What they would do is Oak would give Ash a battle strategy, sometimes even then one they discussed earlier in the classroom, and leave Ash to ponder it while he went around the ranch and picked two random pokemon as he saw fit. As Ash progressed in skill, eventually he would select his own pokemon, but until that point, Oak would flawlessly pick Ash apart with the knowledge of what pokemon he would use beforehand. Ash constantly complained that it wasn't fair, but hey, winning will be that much easier when your opponent doesn't know which pokemon you had was his way of seeing it.

Over the last two years, Ash had steadily improved with a wide variety of pokemon from the ranch, but he had still yet to defeat Professor Oak. Granted, he could give him a good battle and was a thousand times better than he was at first, but Oak would always pull something out at the end that would tip the battle in his favor to Ash's great annoyance.

After about an hour and a half of getting handled by Professor Oak, it was around 6-6:30 and time to wrap things up at the ranch. From there Ash would proceed to feed all of the pokemon dinner and put them back in their pokeballs, which is where we find Ash now, attempting to feed the water pokemon their dinner before being "greeted" by the friendly neighborhood Seadra.

"Rough day Ash?" the Professor asked as he approached him from behind.

"You know it Professor, everything just seems to be going wrong today." complained Ash with a sigh.

"A penny for your thoughts?" he said as he held out his hand which indeed did contain a penny.

Taking the penny with a light grin on his face, Ash began recounting his day, "Well, first my alarm clock went off late this morning so I had to scramble out of bed and get ready in a couple minutes just so I could run down here to avoid being late. Then, despite your morning poem being as wonderful and uplifting as usual, the entire morning seemed to go wrong starting with when that Kadabra managed to wander its way into the ghost pokemon mansion" began Ash.

"Yes, from what I saw and heard from the lab that didn't sound like it ended too well. Especially when I heard… "Give me back my pants! Those aren't meant as headgear!" quoted the Professor in his best Ash voice with a laugh.

"Don't even get me started" grumbled Ash. "Anyway, after finally rescuing that Kadabra, then that Growlithe decided to use my hand as its chew toy when we ran that experiment in the lab this morning. Something I distinctly remember seeing you enjoy very much." said Ash with a glare directed at Oak.

"You have to admit it was pretty funny Ash. If it happened to me I'm sure you wouldn't let me hear the end of it" laughed Oak as he remembered the particular incident this morning.

"Then to top it off, I got thrashed by you today in our battle after doing so well the last couple days, and got my daily Water Gun from that Seadra while I was trying to feed the water pokemon." finished Ash with a drawn out sigh.

"I'm sorry to hear how tragic your day has been Ash" said the Professor with light sarcasm. "But hey, why don't you just call it a day early and I'll finish up things for you here? I know you won't get to go home and relax immediately cause of your mom's daily "lessons", but now you can finish those up a little sooner and call it quits." the Professor offered.

"You mean it Professor? You don't have to; I can suck it up and finish up here."

"I mean it Ash, you're always working so hard around here and you deserve it, now go get home and deal with your mom so you can get some rest." the Professor finished with a warm smile.

"Thanks a lot Professor! I'll see you on Monday, have a nice weekend!" finished Ash as he turned and made his way off the ranch and up the dirt road to his house.

On his way home, he couldn't help but notice how quiet Pallet Town was as the moon just began to creep over the hills and into the violet dusk sky.

Things around Pallet Town certainly did become quieter after Gary decided to leave. He never really did get over losing his opportunity to leave much to the disappointment of Professor Oak. Gary spent the first year lying around grumbling about the decision before finally choosing a course of action.

He had heard of a region very far away called Unova, which due to its distance from the other regions had its own separate Pokemon League. To top it off, there were no age restrictions for beginning trainers there. Making up his mind, he spent the next three days begging Oak to let him leave for Unova immediately to begin his pokemon journey.

After seeing him do nothing but lie around and complain for the last year, for Gary's own good Professor Oak finally relented and contacted of friend of his named Professor Juniper. Through her he arranged for Gary to being his journey in Unova which he left for about 8 months ago.

Despite being bitter rivals, Gary had also been one of his first and best friends and losing him was indeed hard for Ash. It had taken a particularly brutal thrashing in one of his battles with the Professor for him to finally get his senses back.

Arriving at his doorstep, he turned the doorknob and was about to walk into his living room when…

As soon as he closed the door, he looked where the door once was only to find his mother standing there with a creepy expression on her face while slowly palming a frying pan up and down. "Would you care to try that again honey?" said his mom with as menacing a voice as she could pull off.

Did he mention his mother's complementary manners lessons? Sighing, Ash turned around right back out the door closing it behind him. Facing the door again, this time he knocked three times expecting an immediate answer.

"Be right there!" Ash heard his mother shout from what sounded like the kitchen? _"Wasn't she just standing right next to the door?"_ he thought. Shrugging his shoulders, he waited as his mom finally opened the door looking surprised and said "Oh Ash honey! You're home early! Why don't you come in?"

"Thank you for your kindness!" he said with a painfully forced smile and tone. "Let me remove my shoes at the door so I don't track mud into your spotless house mam" Ash said as he stepped in after removing his shoes.

"Why thank you kind sir! Come on in!" she said as she led him in. Finally dropping the charade she said "See why manners are so important young man? How do you think some stranger would have reacted to some teenage boy walking into their house uninvited? she asked disapprovingly.

"But mooommm, this is my house! I've had a bad day and I just wanted to come inside without having to do this" Ash whined to his mom.

"Sorry Ash, but fatigue doesn't excuse a lack of manners in my household! Now why don't you cook dinner and you can tell me about your day while we eat." Delia said as she strolled off up the stairs into her room.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, you heard right, Ash is cooking dinner. Over the last two years Delia has had Ash cook dinner nightly as part of his "home lessons". And to Delia's immense joy, Ash had come a very long way from when first started. She no longer had to instruct him how to do anything or monitor him in fear that he might set the house on fire. Cooking wise, he had improved from inedible charred messes to meals that even managed impress Mrs. Ketchum.

"Alright mom, it'll be ready in half an hour." said Ash exhaustedly as he trudged off into the kitchen.

Forty-five minutes later we find Ash and Delia sitting around the table with chicken parmesan with spaghetti to go along with it. The extra fifteen minutes was necessary due to the factor of Ash's exhaustion.

As they dug in to the well made meal by Ash, he began to recount his day to his mom who had a growing look of pity for her precious baby.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your bad day honey, in that case, we'll skip our evening talk for tonight and I'll let you go straight to bed." his mom said with warm smile.

"Thanks mom, I'll go take care of the dishes then I'll head up to bed" as he made his way over to the sink.

His mom suddenly cut him off however "Don't worry about those Ash, I'll get them, go ahead up and get some sleep."

"Ok, thanks again mom, I'll see you tomorrow, night" he said as he made his way up the stairs and into his bed.

As she was doing the dishes, Delia couldn't help but feel proud of the man her Ash was becoming. She remembered how every night he would come home from Professor Oak's and how she would drill him on manners and "girl skills" in their nightly talks.

She had to say she was very impressed on how he took it seriously and how well he's improved in both departments. He honestly had very good manners already; she just likes to mess with him now like she did at the door earlier. She also felt proud of herself on how well she was able to teach him about girls. _"Those girls won't be able to resist my Ash once they get a view of him_. _I'll have grandkids out of him if it's the last thing I do_" she thought with smirk on her face. Finishing up the dishes, she turned out the lights before making her way upstairs and into bed herself.

(The Next Afternoon)

It was a cool sunny spring Pallet day while Ash was sitting on the chair swing on his front porch. Due to how hectic his weeks always were, he always loved taking Saturdays off from doing anything. Looking around he couldn't help but to notice how beautiful the flowers were in his mother's garden as they began to bloom. Surrounding him was a colorful menagerie of flowers which had every color from red, purple, blue, and pink. Ash also felt a sense of pride knowing that he helped his mother plant those on one of his Sundays off. Ash loved to help his mother in the garden on weekends; he found gardening a very calming and satisfying hobby for him.

He was currently in the middle of what he planned to do all day…nothing, when he saw Professor Oak running towards his house at a brisk pace.

"Professor, what's wrong?" Ash asked as he noted his disheveled appearance. Suddenly the power went out in his house, only confirming to him more that something was definitely wrong.

"Ash! We have an emergency! There seems to be an electric type pokemon rampaging around the town power plant!" he heaved while trying to regain his breath.

"That's terrible!" Ash exclaimed. "Do we know why? " he asked.

"We believe that team rocket may have been involved." said the Professor gravely. "Apparently there was a whole group of them in Viridian Forest when team rocket must have decided to attack and capture them. The one that wandered its way into the power plant is one of the few we believe to have escaped and due to its experience; it's very distrusting of humans."

"Well what pokemon is it?" Ash asked.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that" Oak said mysteriously.

"Why not? Don't you want to save that pokemon and protect the power plant?" Ash yelled furiously, angry that the Professor would play games at a time like this.

"I do, but I won't be stopping it, you will" the Professor said bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked his anger gone, now thoroughly confused.

"I believe that it's time for a little test for you Ash. I think some field experience you do you some good. I've brought you a pokemon and a pokeball, I want you to go catch that pokemon at the power plant and bring it back to the Lab so we can examine and help it." the Professor finished.

"Alright then" Ash said calming down. He knew better from Professor Oak than to lose your cool while under pressure. "What pokemon did you bring me?" he asked the Professor.

With a serious look on his face, he proceeded to say, "I'm not going to tell you right now, but listen carefully. I want you to use that pokemon I gave you for battle, but under no circumstances are you to open that pokeball before you reach the power plant. I want you to come up with a battle plan on the spot like we've been practicing for the last two years."

"Alright, I understand. I'll meet you back at the lab with a new electric type pokemon for you Professor!" Ash yelled as he ran up the road and made his way to the power plant.

(At the Pallet Town Power Plant)

Ash took a second to catch his breath at the gate of the power plant before he decided to enter. On his way there, he realized that he seemed to be faster and tired way less quickly. _"Hmmm, must be all the manual labor that slave driver has me doing, oh well, another thought for another time"_ he noted.

As he entered the power plant he immediately knew where his target was from the large amount of sparks coming from the generator room. Running into the building, he we met by a group of workers who were being pinned down behind a metal crate from the high voltage bolts of electricity.

"Are all of you guys all right?" Ash asked them as hurried behind the crate and approached the workers.

"What do you think you're doing kid? Now you're trapped here with us!" one of the workers shouted angrily at him.

"I was sent here by Professor Oak to stop that pokemon. Now I'll ask again, is anyone hurt?" Ash asked quickly taking control of the situation.

After hearing that, the worker decided to comply, "No, we're all fine; we're just pinned down behind this crate from all the electricity"

Nodding his head, Ash addressed them all, "Alright good, now will someone fill me in on what happened?"

"Well," one of the workers began. "We were all just going about our business when we heard a large crash from the forest followed by the cries of hurt pokemon. Then the next thing we know, this guy up here shows up with some weird collar around his neck and starts going nuts firing off lightning everywhere. It seems like the generators are strengthening him!"

"Alright, and what exactly is "he"?" Ash questioned.

"It's horrible! It's just a cute little Pikachu! Pikachu shouldn't be this scary!" one of the larger workers cried losing it while one of the workers next to him comforted him.

"A Pikachu?" Ash questioned with a disbelieving look. "How could a Pikachu be causing this much-" Ash was suddenly cut off as a huge bolt of electricity much larger than the previous ones fired at the metal crate shaking it violently and nearly bringing it down.

"Ahhhhh! Make it stop!" cried the large worker from before. After the large bolt of electricity, all lightning stopped as everything seemed to go eerily quiet. "Ok, point taken." Ash said with a sweatdrop. "Alright, I think it needs a second to rest, all of you get out of here now and I'll go up there and deal with it." scared senseless by the last bolt of electricity, the workers quickly dashed out of the generator room with their tails between their legs.

Taking a second to gather himself, Ash walked out from behind the barely standing crate and made his way towards the generators slowly and looking for a sign of movement. As he cleared the first group of generators, he was met with a heart wrenching sight.

Lying on the floor in a small clearing in front of him was a badly bruised and beaten Pikachu with some sort of collar with an R insignia around its neck. Its chest heaved up and down as it was clearly exhausted from expelling so many watts of electricity.

Ash nearly broke down seeing the condition that the Pikachu was in. Bruises, cuts, and burns littered its body in such a way that made Ash nauseous and he wondered how any pokemon could stand after going through what this Pikachu must have. Examining his surroundings, Ash realized that it wasn't the generators powering the electric rodent up, but the weird collar that it had on its neck.

Ash then turned his attention back to the injured Pikachu, _"Even with that collar, that Pikachu has to be one of the strongest I've ever seen! The electric sacks on its cheeks are far larger than any Pikachu I've ever studied at Oak's! That explains how it was able to fire off such large bolts of electricity!"_

Knowing how hostile it was to humans from its previous display and Oak's warning, Ash steeled himself and kept one hand on his pokeball as he steadily moved closer to the battered pokemon. "Pikachu! Don't worry! I'm here to help you!"

Hearing Ash's voice, the Pikachu picked itself off the ground and looked around curiously for the source of the noise. Finally noticing Ash and registering that he was a human, Pikachu went berserk and with newfound strength, released a large explosion of electricity that forced Ash to the floor. "Pikachuuuuu!"

Getting up, Ash yelled "Pikachu! I'm not here to hurt you! Calm down!" Remembering Oak's instructions, Ash grabbed the pokeball on his belt and with a grunt, threw the pokeball while yelling "I choose you!"

"_Oh you've got to be kidding me."_ was the last thought that registered in Ash's mind before getting slammed in the face by a powerful Water Gun. _"That's it, worldwide famous pokemon researcher or not, I'm going to kill him when I get back."_

Yes, standing in front of Ash was Seadra in all of its glory with its head cocked back about to fire off another water projectile at him. As it was about to release it, it was suddenly struck by one of the stray bolts of electricity that came from Pikachu, who had now become mobile and was dashing around the clearing at high speeds while firing off powerful bursts of electricity.

Ash quickly realized that if he wanted any hope of walking out of there, he would need Seadra's full cooperation. "Seadra! Do you see the situation we're in now? I know that we don't really see eye to eye, but I need your help to stop this Pikachu! So please work with me or we're both done!"

Grudgingly, Seadra nodded its head as it turned towards the general location of Pikachu in a battle stance.

"Alright Seadra!" Ash yelled as he began coming up with a strategy. _"Ok, we're at a heavy disadvantage here with both type and speed, I need to find a way to neutralize its speed, box it in, and bombard with its Water type moves since I'm pretty sure Seadra isn't high leveled enough to know any Dragon moves yet."_ one could see the gears turning in Ash's head as he came up with a plan.

Seeing the Pikachu approaching rapidly, he turned his hat around backwards and called out his first move, "Seadra! Use Water Gun to soak the floor but don't do it near you since water conducts electricity!

Following its orders, Seadra unleashed a torrent of water towards Pikachu and continued on to drench the floor while leaving a nice large circle around itself. Seeing the original blast of water coming at it, Pikachu quickly attempted to change directions only to slip on the now slick floor and slide into the circle, right into Ash and Seadra's hands.

As Pikachu lay in heap on the ground attempting to get up, Ash yelled "Great job Seadra! Now's he's a sitting Golduck! Now, quick use Smokescreen to blind it!"

Seadra immediately fired off an inky black sludge that landed right in Pikachu's eyes, effectively blinding it. Pikachu was now up and began frantically firing off uncontrolled electric blasts that were greatly damaging the surrounding generators, a few nearly missing Seadra, who was awaiting Ash's next orders.

"Now, use agility to avoid that electricity and circle around Pikachu!" Seadra then began to blur out of sight and began moving so quickly, that it appeared that there were twenty Seadras surrounding Pikachu, who was now being pushed into the middle of the circle by the circling sea dragons.

"Time to finish it off Seadra! Use Water Gun! Rapid fire!" As Seadra blurred around Pikachu, simultaneously all of the Seadra drew their heads back and appeared to fire Water Gun after Water Gun, each one damaging Pikachu more until it finally collapsed, unable to stand any longer.

"That's enough Seadra! Great job!" Ash yelled as Seadra ceased its attack while Ash moved towards the unconscious pokemon to examine its collar. Standing over it, Ash bent down and took a closer look. He quickly realized that the collar seemed to contain some kind of liquid that it was steadily injecting into the back of its neck.

Knowing that the collar couldn't be doing anything good, Ash began to attempt to remove it by pulling it off. Ash's attempts quickly woke the unconscious Pikachu up, giving Ash a chance to look right into its eyes.

Looking deep into its eyes, Ash saw many different emotions swirling around rapidly in its deep black pupils. Ash saw fear, pain, confusion, and dread, but most of all, he saw what appeared to be artificial rage?

Realizing the position it was in, Pikachu immediately began thrashing around attempting to distance itself from the human that had his hands around its neck. "Pikachuuuuu!" it cried as released its most powerful Thunderbolt in blind rage and fear.

Ash howled in pain from being hit by the high level of electricity at such a close range, but knowing that he couldn't give up on Pikachu, Ash braced himself as he held Pikachu close to his body "I won't abandon you Pikachu!"

Suddenly the collar snapped in half from both the powerful electricity from Pikachu and the pressure from being squeezed up against Ash. Both being completely drained, both Ash and Pikachu collapsed to the floor facing each other. As they both made eye contact, Ash once again looked deep into Pikachu's eyes, and to his relief, saw only exhaustion.

"Don't worry Pikachu. You don't have to be afraid any more, I promise I'll take good care of you." Ash wheezed out despite the pain in his chest.

They laid there for what seemed like hours bonding through nothing but their eyes, when in reality it was only about a minute. After finding no trace of malice in Ash's eyes, Pikachu let out one final pleased sigh before it finally faded off into the land of unconsciousness.

Gathering up all of his remaining strength, Ash picked himself off the ground and pulled his out his last remaining pokeball. "I promise I'll take care of you" he uttered as he tapped the white circle of the pokeball against the unconscious pokemon, sucking it into the pokeball without any resistance.

Glad that he had finally accomplished his mission, Ash turned around only to hear clapping? "Well done Ash, I have to say I'm very proud of your performance." said Professor Oak as he appeared stealthily from the shadows.

"Professor? How did you get there?" asked a completely dumbfounded Ash as another thought crossed his mind "Hey! and if you were there then why didn't you help me?" he cried out in indignation.

Resisting the urge to laugh at the look on Ash's face the Professor began explaining. "Well, I did say that some field experience testing would do you some good, who did you think was going to judge your performance? And leading into that, I didn't help you because I didn't think you needed it, you were in control of that Pikachu the entire time, I was quite pleased with your performance." he finished.

Realizing the truth in his words, Ash's anger quickly dissipated. "Thanks Professor, I used the box in strategy to neutralize its speed"

"I saw that, you set it up perfectly by using that Water Gun to trap it in your circle and effectively finished it off." he noted impressed by the feat.

"Yeah, speaking of that, why on earth would you send me Seadra? You know just as well as I do that we don't get along!" Ash yelled as he pointed at the pokemon in question. Just as Ash finished complaining, he was hit in the face by another Water Gun as Seadra made its way over with an annoyed expression, as if it was thinking the same thing as Ash.

This time Professor Oak couldn't resist laughing at the misfortune of Ash. "Speak of the devil! And my reasoning for that is simple, I wanted to put you in the worst situation possible and see you work your way around it, what better way to do that than fighting with not only a type disadvantage, but with a disobedient pokemon" he finished matter-of-factly.

"I guess you're right…" he groaned. "But I also got lucky that Pikachu was hurt before we battled him, did you see that little guy's power?"

Nodding his head, Professor answered "I sure did, that Pikachu has to have some of the strongest electric attacks I've ever seen. Unfortunately though, I managed to capture a glimpse of him after your battle and I'm afraid that it looked as if his electric sacs on his cheeks were badly damaged from the collar and too many electric attacks." he said solemnly as he examined that very collar.

Immediately concerned, Ash asked "Is it going to be permanent?"

"I don't think so, but we're going to have to run some more tests on it when we get back to the lab. There's one more thing about that Pikachu that concerns me however, from what it just went through, I'm sure it's going to have a strong dislike for humans." he noted sadly.

"What can we do to help it Professor?" Ash asked.

"That's where you come in, I couldn't help but notice that you seem rather attached to that Pikachu. I want you to keep him as your first Pokemon and gradually warm him back up to humans. I'm sure you remember from your studies that this won't be like the same relationship you have with the pokemon at the ranch. Pikachu will be yours, and you need to take good care of him and train him well. Remember the most important words you spoke as a ten year old? You owe it to that pokemon to be the best trainer you can be so that you can help it be the pokemon that it can be." the Professor finished in a serious tone.

"You mean it Professor? I promise that I won't let you or Pikachu down, I will be the best trainer I can be so that Pikachu can become the strongest Pikachu in the world!" Ash exclaimed as the fire of determination burned inside of him.

"I'm glad you feel that way Ash, you continue to make me prouder of you every day. But first things first, let's go treat Pikachu and get you some rest. I'm sure that Thunderbolt didn't feel too good huh? he said as they began the trek back to the lab, Ash making the journey with his very first pokemon, and friend onboard.

That felt so good to finally finish! I hope that all of you enjoyed the latest installment of The Prodigy!

I have to admit though, that first chapter was a kind of an experiment to see if other people thought my writing was any good and I was very pleased with the number of good reviews on that chapter. Due to the positive response, I promise you that I will finish this story from beginning to end and that I will never abandon it.

I'm sorry that you guys had to wait that long for this next chapter. Life is very hectic for me right now between high school, my new part-time job, and a ton of football stuff. However, I find writing as an escape for me so I'm always willing to sit down and work on this story. Thank you everyone for waiting and reading, keep an eye out for my next chapter! Please Review!

DBF out


	3. Chapter 3: Reminiscence and New Horizons

**A/N: It's good to be back! I want to apologize in advance for how long it took for me to update this story. That last two months have been hell with a combination of finals in school, two jobs, and two sports respectively. To be honest with you, I couldn't find any time at all to write and most of what you're about to read was written in the past few days. Now for a little bit of good news…most of what you're reading was written in the past few days! Meaning that things have died down a little bit for me so I now have more time to write! I wanted to make up for the very long wait with an extra long chapter that's twice the size of chapter 1, and almost twice the size of chapter 2! On a final note before I address the reviewers, I have decided to up the rating on this story to M just for safety. With Ash hitting thirteen years old I decided to be a little more profane in character speech. (What teenager doesn't swear?) You have been warned, now to the reviewers:**

**Tempest86: Thanks for being a returning reviewer! Yes I decided to go with Pikachu, I couldn't have written this story without him or else I would feel like I'm betraying a part of my childhood. I'll keep an eye out for your story and I'm looking forward to it.**

**Vital Info: Thanks for reviewing again! I'm glad you liked the description of his day-to-day events; that was my favorite part to write. That was something that rubbed off on me from reading Naruto fanfiction where he does intense training and doesn't suck like he does in the manga. Pikachu's development will be something that will be addressed in the upcoming chapters with a few flashbacks maybe or whatever I decide to throw in.**

**Tendou Souji: I always love reading your reviews! They're very long and I greatly appreciate the effort you put into helping me with my grammar. I want to particularly thank you for introducing me to the horizontal ruler. It does make the story flow much better. Thanks again for all of the other various grammar corrections; hopefully I wrote this chapter a little better. Enjoy!**

**saveme57: Thanks for reviewing! Enjoy the chapter!**

**Shades of Grey: Thanks for being a return reviewer! I'm glad that you enjoy the way the story is moving and I greatly appreciate all of your other comments!**

**Nauran: Thanks for the grammar tips! I'm also glad that you're a fellow original pokemon fan! Enjoy the chapter.**

**partner555: I'm glad you like the humor to drama transitions. Thank you for reviewing and enjoy the chapter!**

**exeafirm: Thanks for reviewing and read on, maybe it will happen…**

**lightningblade49: Thanks for reviewing! And I agree with you…**

**DBZFTW: Thank you! Enjoy the chapter!**

**LazyFoxLover: Thank you for your reviews! I'm trying to make Ash smarter and more interesting, but I agree that you also have to love his fun and naïve side.**

**XoreandoX: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad that you appreciate the story. The jaws scene might have been a little over the top, but I had that idea in my head for a while and wanted to put it in. Those won't be common but I might have one every once in a while if they're stuck in my head like that one was. Enjoy the chapter!**

**kyunaru: Thank you very much and enjoy the chapter!**

**mamoswineFTW: I feel your pain man, I've browsed through the Pokemon archives for hours looking for good stories of that type. Unfortunately, there are only a handful that are even related to this topic and even fewer that are worth reading. So I decided to follow a saying that I can't remember where I heard it from: If you can't read it, write it. We need more smart Ash stories that appeal to older pokemon fans! And they only author I can recommend to you, even though he hasn't updated in ages, would be Thomas3Garchomp. Hope that helps you.**

**Auriansmule: Thank you! Enjoy the chapter!**

**GaijinSamurai: I can see where you're coming from with not liking Pikachu because of what the anime did to him. I too am very frustrated with how Pikachu would go and beat a legendary pokemon then lose to some kid's starter he just got on that day. I can assure you that my Pikachu won't be like that, MY Pikachu will be the way THEIR Pikachu should've been. I hope you can still enjoy the story with Pikachu as Ash's starter. As for a pairing with Ash, I can't reveal too much at this point without heavily spoilers, so sorry about that. Either way, **enjoy** the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: **Believe it or not, I do not own Pokemon. If I did, real Pokemon would have somehow been invented and I'd be coming at you with my own personal Charizard.

The Prodigy

Chapter 3: Reminiscence, Goodbyes, and New Horizons

"Pull!" A loud shout pierced the silence in the clearing of the dense forest on Professor Oak's ranch. Following the loud cry, a round disk soared through the midday sky only to be struck and instantly vaporized by a powerful Thundershock, "Pika!"

"Great job buddy!" exclaimed a thirteen-year-old Ash Ketchum. He now stood at an impressive 5'7 for his age after finally hitting his growth spurt. He still wore his regular blue jeans, black t-shirt, and his short-sleeve jacket, only they were a size or two larger now. The only two glaring differences were his slightly longer hair and his more angular, defined face due to hitting puberty. He still wore his trademark hat, but his hair now slightly poked out from beneath and hit about two inches above his shoulders.

"Again! Pull!" he yelled as he threw two disks from the pile next to him this time. "Pikachu!" Taking a split-second to lock on to the disks, electricity began swirling around his tiny body as hundreds of volts coursed inside of him. A second later, two powerful, accurate bolts of electricity were released from Pikachu which hastily incinerated the two disks. As the electricity dissipated from his body, Pikachu turned towards Ash with a seemingly mocking look on his face as if he were looking for more of a challenge.

Ash stood there with pleased smirk on his face while reflecting on just how far Pikachu had come with his training in only one year, "That Thunderbolt is really coming along nicely Pikachu! One more and we're done! Give me everything you have with this last one, Thunder!" he cried as this time he rapidly fired off the last remaining three disks.

Gathering every bolt of electricity that his powerful, compact body could muster, the ground began to shake and small chunks of earth rose from the ground as electricity began to fly wildly in every direction centered around Pikachu. As suddenly as the electricity had appeared, it all vanished back into Pikachu's body as everything else seemed to die down. Pikachu visibly trembled as he struggled to contain the immense power that was being restrained by his tiny frame. Unable to contain the massive amount of electricity anymore, Pikachu released it all in a spectacular explosion that scorched everything within a thirty yard range, including the three unfortunate disks…

Having already been aware of his partner's reputation as a property damage nightmare, Ash began walking towards Pikachu from his self proclaimed 'safe zone' about forty yards away. Pikachu turned towards Ash with an exhausted but satisfied look on his face, "Pika" Pikachu chirped embarrassedly as he surveyed the mess he had just made out of the Professor's land.

While still managing to keep a cool exterior, inside, Ash still couldn't believe how powerful Pikachu had managed to become. _"I know for a fact that Team Rocket didn't do anything but put him into a blind rage from the Professor's tests, but that power is still unbelievable! No fully matured Pikachu should have that kind of power let alone one that young. He could give a full-grown Electabuzz a run for its money!"_

Ash's train of thought continued as he reached his exhausted partner and lightly petted him on the head. _"That overflow of electricity does concern me though. Pikachu wasted so much power on that last Thunder and it even seems to hurt him a little bit when he tries to use it. I'll have to get some advice from the Professor when we get back…"_

"Still too powerful for your own good huh buddy?" he joked light-heartedly as he picked Pikachu up and set him on his shoulder. "Don't worry though, one of these days you'll be able to control all of that power, and I'll be right here to help you do it," Ash smiled as he looked at Pikachu. "As much as you don't want to hear it, we might have to use you sparingly against some of the rookie trainers or you'll end up frying their pokemon," he said jokingly.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu voiced his displeasure as he smacked Ash on the back of his head with his tail. Amused at his pokemon's reaction, Ash looked back at Pikachu and attempted to pacify him. "Don't give me that, you'll still get to battle, we'll just have to teach you some self-restraint," he said with a sweatdrop as he surveyed the cause of the upcoming headache he was bound to receive from the Professor.

"Pi-ka-chu, pika-pi," the electric rodent shot back with a dry look at the first human he had come to trust. That roughly translated to "_Are you seriously complaining about having a Pokemon that's too strong?"_ Ash still couldn't fully understand everything Pikachu said, but now he could at least always get the gist of it.

Ash gave Pikachu an annoyed look, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's just get back to the lab already so you rest up and I can grab a bite to eat. I'm so hungry right now I could probably eat that rock over there," he said as he pointed at an odd shaped, circular-looking boulder next to a tree.

The aforementioned rock, suddenly sprouted arms and legs as it revealed itself to be a mid-sized Graveler. Not taking too kindly to the prospect of being eaten, the Graveler slowly made its way towards Ash before coming to a halt directly in front of him. Having been abruptly woken from it's nap, the Graveler settled for simply giving Ash an 'I'll-get-you-for-this-later look', before slowly edging its way past him to most likely continue it's nap elsewhere.

"He-he-he," Ash awkwardly laughed once the Graveler had left. Pikachu just sat there on his shoulder with a mirthful look his face as nothing more had to be done to after that display of Ash's bad luck and stupidity combined. "As I was saying, I think it's about time we make our way back to the lab…" he finished as he began his trek back towards the Professor's lab with his companion on his right shoulder.

(Back at the lab)

It had been a hectic day for Professor Oak. That was a complete understatement; it had been an extremely hectic day for the Professor. In fact, one could argue that today is one of the busiest days of the entire year for the Professor. The reason being that today was the day before the first group of new pokemon trainers would be leaving Pallet Town for the first time in three years since the league had increased the rookie trainer age.

Oak was currently running between the lab and his office as he was simultaneously checking the roster of arriving trainers and running final examinations on the starter pokemon which had arrived yesterday, courtesy of the Pokemon League. Such was the sight that greeted Ash as he walked in the back door with Pikachu in tow.

"Ahhh! Air conditioning! How I missed you!" yelled Ash in exhaustion as he walked in and immediately collapsed on the couch. "Professor! Would you make me a sandwich? I would make it, but this couch is way too comfy. Hey, I thought you started all of that stuff for tomorrow at seven this morning. How are you still working on it?"

A tick grew on the professor's forehead as he turned towards Ash with an annoyed look, "Well it turns out we have way more trainers coming tomorrow than I anticipated. And make your own damn sandwich, some of us have been working since the break of dawn unlike others who decided to go out and have fun training all day," the frazzled professor finished with a huff.

A look of amusement and fake indignation crossed Ash's face as he quickly countered, "What do you mean I didn't work today? I've been doing the most important work of all! I'm working towards becoming the best pokemon master in the world!" he finished with heroic pose, Pikachu playing along, right behind him.

"Are you finished? Whenever you are, eat your sandwich, then grab this clipboard, and head into my office and finish organizing the information of the upcoming trainers," he said with a dry look.

"Awww really? But I wanted to go check on the starter pokemon! After all, one of them will be mine tomorrow, right?" he asked with an expecting look.

Deciding to play Ash's game, the Professor pulled rank, "Did you attend the Pokemon Academy in Viridian City for eight years to become a registered Pokemon Professor? I didn't think so. Only officially registered Professors may handle starter pokemon before they reach the hands of their first trainers. Besides, who said you were getting one of them?" _'This will be good,'_ he thought with a mental chuckle.

One could hear pin drop as Ash stared at the professor with a blank look on face. That blank look however, was immediately replaced with one of pure horror, then pure rage. "What? What do you mean I don't get a starter pokemon? I'm going to be a new trainer tomorrow! All new trainers receive a starter pokemon from their regional Professor! It's in the rulebook! Why am I any different?..." these objections were followed only by more complaints, a loud string of curses, and incoherent mumbling.

'_Why didn't I bring a camera for this?' _thought the professor whose mental laughter by now had grown into full blown hysterics.

"Ash," began the professor only to be drowned out by his increasing volume.

"Ash," he tried once more, only to meet failure once again.

"Ash!" he yelled finally losing his patience with the complaining teenager.

"What?" Ash yelled, finally deciding to acknowledge the professor.

"Would you please explain to me what the definition of a pokemon trainer is?" the professor said with a thoughtful look on his face.

Without second thought, Ash began, "A pokemon trainer is one who catches wild pokemon with pokeballs, raises them, and trains them to battle other trainer's pokemon. What does that have to do with anything though?" he asked thoroughly puzzled.

"That is correct. So tell me, am I right in saying that since you have already caught a pokemon, trained with it, and battled me numerous times, that you are already a pokemon trainer?" he finished with a keen look.

Knowing what the professor was getting at, he answered. "If that's the case, then why didn't I get a starter pokemon after I caught Pikachu? Assuming that you registered me as a pokemon trainer after I caught him." he asked with a smirk, believing he had beaten him.

Feeling that the conversation had begun to lighten up, the professor knew he was going to get another kick when he dropped this on Ash. "Yes I did register you shortly after that, and you may think so, but tell me, what is the definition of starter in its loosest form?" the professor questioned as he already began doing his own victory dance in his head.

He didn't see the professor's trap at first. "Well, as far as I know, starter means first, or beginning… hey! Are you saying that makes Pikachu my starter pokemon then?

Having been silent while watching the exchange, Pikachu felt slightly offended at Ash's last remark. Sparks began to crack around his body as he slowly advanced towards Ash with a look that promised pain.

"Not that there's anything wrong that!" he quickly added, hoping to diffuse the electrical time bomb slowly heading his way.

Pacified for now, the sparks began to dissipate as Pikachu turned back around with a forceful "Pika!" Which Ash roughly translated to _'Damn right!'_

Relieved that his lab just narrowly avoided being wrecked by Pikachu, the professor got back on track. "Anyway, as I was saying, yes that does make Pikachu your official starter pokemon. Most people only assume that Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle can be a trainer's first pokemon since that's how it usually turns out. But in reality, any pokemon can be considered a trainer's starter," he concluded informatively.

Ash was beginning to make sense of the situation, but one nagging thought kept popping up in his mind. "Alright, I get what you're saying about the starter pokemon, but something keeps bothering me. If you're saying that I've been a pokemon trainer for about a year already, then haven't I broken Pokemon League rules? I thought I wasn't allowed to legally be registered as a trainer until I was thirteen years old."

The professor had an answer for this however as he had expected Ash to ask that question eventually. "Normally you would be right, but being the apprentice of a world renowned pokemon professor does have its perks…" he began with a toothy grin.

"Well aren't you modest," he said with light sarcasm. Then the reality of the situation hit him, "Wait, you pulled strings for me? I don't want people thinking that the only reason I'm a good trainer is because you handed me everything without me having to work for it!" he cried beginning to get upset.

"Ash," the professor said with a stern look. "Don't ever think that I handed you everything ever again. You worked harder than I could have ever imagined and surpassed everyone, including my own expectations. Your hard work will be the reason you are successful in the future, not me. I can also assure you that no one else thinks that, because making you a trainer early was really the only thing I've done for you behind the scenes."

"But wouldn't people think that an extra year would give me an advantage over all of the trainers just starting out?" he asked worriedly.

"Not in your case, not too many people even know about it, and those who do know the reasoning behind it. Between the details of the power plant incident and my reputation, the higher-ups in the Pokemon League had no problems letting you keep Pikachu seeing as you caught him, already made a connection with him, and they knew that your mother and I wouldn't let you out into the wild until you were thirteen anyway," he said allaying Ash's worries.

"Besides," he continued, "It's not like this is that big of a deal anyway. All you did was just have possession of one pokemon. You didn't travel out into the wild or battle trainers other than myself. That's really what the age change was meant for, not prohibiting the ownership of pokemon. So you're fine, don't worry about it anymore."

With his worries put to rest, Ash breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright then, I just don't want people thinking that the only reason I win battles is because I learned under you. I really appreciate everything you taught me, but now it's mine turn to do things alone. The whole world is gonna know my name when I reach the top!"

"Just make sure you keep that confidence of yours in check boy, I didn't teach someone who's going to rub all of their victories in others faces, besides, saying something and doing it are two completely different things." he quipped in a matter-of-factly tone.

"I know, I know, trust me, even with all I've learned from you I know it's not gonna be easy," Ash said with true sincerity. "Anyway, so what's going on with me tomorrow since I'm not getting a starter?" Ash asked, switching gears.

The professor seemed to get a glint in his eye which slightly unnerved Ash. "Oh, don't you worry about that; I have something very special planned for you. You could call it another one of the perks of being my apprentice," he said cryptically. "Now, let's get this work done so I can send you home to get a good night's sleep. You're going to need it for what I have in store for you tomorrow…" he finished as he handed Ash the clipboard and walked off towards the starter pokemon.

"O-kay…" he said, severely weirded out by the change in the professor's behavior. "Well you heard him Pikachu, let's finish this work so we can head home, I wanna spend some more time with mom before we leave tomorrow anyway," Ash said as he turned and made his way towards Professor Oak's office.

"Pika!" Pikachu responded enthusiastically as he jumped, gracefully landing on his companion's right shoulder.

- (A Few Hours Later, Ketchum Residence)

Ash and Delia were currently in the kitchen eating a delicious dinner of steak and potatoes; Ash's all time favorite, while Pikachu took a nap on the couch in the living room. The house had a very loving, yet somber feel to it as this was the last night Ash would be spending in it for a quite a while.

It had taken Ash around two hours to finish organizing the information about the upcoming trainers. He was still a little shocked at just how many trainers there were, and how much information had to be in order about them. After finishing, Ash and the Professor had a very important conversation about a certain electric rodent, and they went over a few more last minute details concerning his journey before he was dismissed.

To his immense frustration however, the professor did not reveal a single detail concerning what was planned for him tomorrow, and it was still bugging him to this very moment.

"What's wrong honey? Steak and potatoes are your favorite. They should have been gone ten minutes ago! If anyone should be bothered by anything, it's me," she moaned, referred to fact he was leaving tomorrow, something she had done numerous times already that evening.

"I'm just a little anxious for tomorrow mom, that's all. We both knew this day was coming eventually; we should enjoy the rest of the time we have together," Ash said in an attempt to cheer up his mother.

However, that was the wrong thing to say apparently as Mrs. Ketchum suddenly burst into tears. "My baby is leaving me! I'm going to be all alone while he's out exploring the world!" she cried, unable to contain the grief of Ash's departure any longer.

Ash rose from the table and walked towards his mother, as he reached her; he pulled her into a loving embrace, one which seemed to express gratitude for everything she had ever done for him the past thirteen years. "C'mon now mom, I'm all grown up, it's time for me to take care of myself now. I'll still be in touch, and you can rest assured I'm leaving millions of times more prepared than if I would have left three years ago, and it's all thanks to my great teachers," he finished with a warm smile.

Tears continued to flow from the eyes of Delia Ketchum, not from grief, but from love, and from pride of the man her son had grown to become. "You're right, you are grown up. And I couldn't possibly be any more proud of how you've turned out. You better keep in touch with me young man, and don't even think of passing by Pallet without stopping by and seeing your loving mother," she said as she held her son in her arms for what she knew would be the last time for a while.

All traces of somberness left the Ketchum household as the mother and son embraced for the final time before Ash's departure. Delia looked up from the embrace, "Ash, you have to promise me one more thing before I can let you leave," she said, breaking the tender silence.

"Anything mom, what is it?" Ash responded.

"You have to promise me that you'll make sure you change your underwear every day," she said with complete sincerity.

"What? Mom! You can't be serious!" Ash yelled as he jumped away from his mom, effectively ruining their mother-son bonding moment.

With a little too much enthusiasm in her voice for Ash's comfort, she replied, "Well of course I'm serious honey! How can you expect to become a pokemon master when you can't even remember to change your you-know-whats each day?"

Realizing there was no swaying his mom, Ash sulked. "Do I really have to promise?" he groaned, feeling every bit of his newfound grown-up, take-care-of-himself attitude leaving by the second.

"Yes honey, I won't let you leave until you promise me," Delia said with a stern, enforcing glare that only a mom can effectively pull off.

"Fine…I promise that I'll change my underwear every day..." Ash finally surrendered as he discovered the cold hard truth concerning arguments with your mom…there is no hope of winning arguments with your mom; ever.

"See Ash? Now was that so hard?" she asked with a satisfied grin.

"Yes, yes it was," Ash murmured despairingly as felt the last of his manhood crumble before his mom's will.

"Either way! With that taken care of, I can now officially give you my full support for you leaving tomorrow!" she cheered, opposite of the grief she had felt earlier. "Oh, and don't worry about the dishes honey. You need some sleep so that you're ready for your big day tomorrow!"

"Thanks mom, I'm pretty tired, and I do have to be well rested so that I'm ready for whatever the world the professor has in store for me tomorrow." Ash said as he walked into the living room to pick up his still sleeping companion, and began to make his way up the stairs.

"That's right Ash. I'll see you tomorrow bright and early then. Goodnight!" she said unsurprised with a knowing look in her eye, uncaught by Ash as he was in the other room.

"Night mom! Love ya!" Ash yawned as he reached the top of the stairs holding a sleeping Pikachu, and turned towards his bedroom. Missing the fact that his mom knew about the professor's plans despite Ash not mentioning a word of it to her…

(An Hour Later, Ash's Room)

Ash's room for the most part remained unchanged from three years ago. Still adorning his walls were various posters of different pokemon including a large poster of the three Kanto starter pokemon. A pokeball alarm clock still rested on his nightstand next to him. He had bought a new one shortly after he had destroyed the original now exactly three years ago. Lying on top of his dresser were his clothes set out for tomorrow, topped with his trademark official Pokemon League hat. He had promised himself a long time ago that he would never get rid of that hat for as long as it was still intact.

The two main differences in his room from before included a bookshelf packed with various books and magazines Professor Oak had Ash read over the years, and a small, functioning laptop on a neat, wooden desk. He got it for Christmas two years ago as a present from his mother and the professor. He used his laptop to stay updated and informed on what's going on in the pokemon world, and in his free time, to casually browse the web and play games like any other normal teenager.

However sleep seemed to avoid Ash that evening. For the past hour Ash had done nothing but toss and turn in his bed, unable to sleep due to the numerous thoughts that were flying through his head. Worries, regrets, and mistakes from the past few years attempted to flood his thoughts, only to be pushed back by confidence. Confidence in the professor's teachings, confidence in his mom's guidance, and confidence in himself.

His thoughts were currently focused on planning out his course of action throughout his journey. He had drawn up a rough plan in a little black notebook a long time ago, but he knew from the professor to always expect the unexpected, and that things won't always turn out like the way he had planned.

Ash's train of thought was now focused on what type of pokemon he wanted to catch. He knew that if he wanted any hope of succeeding, he would need a balanced team that would cover all different kinds of type match-ups. He was so focused on his thoughts that he failed to notice the light tap of something hitting his window.

'_I'm definitely going to need a strong fire, water, and grass type pokemon to cover the three basic types, and with Pikachu being an secondary electric type, I'm going to need two more that would cover a broad range of types…" _Ash thought as he mentally scanned through which pokemon would fill those spots, failing to notice the tap on his window once more.

'_Yes, those two would make great pokemon if they were trained correctly,'_ he thought as he smiled through his pillow. _'But why should I limit myself to just six powerful pokemon? Gotta catch 'em all right? The more types of pokemon I have, the more I'll keep my opponent guess…' _

"Ahhhh!" Ash suddenly yelled as he jumped out of bed in fear from the sound of something crashing through his window.

"What the hell was that?" he gasped while lying in a heap at the foot of his bed. Pikachu who had also been woken from the crash, was now awake and fully alert at it's master's side. Quickly gathering himself, he faintly noticed a round object lying in the middle of a pile of broken glass as he rushed to his window to find the culprit.

"Oh shit! She's gonna kill me!" Ash barely heard in a somewhat familiar voice from a figure in black who he caught fleeing his house at feverish pace.

As the man turned the bend which led into the center of town, Ash realized that any hope of catching him disappeared as quickly as the man had. Labeling the figure as a lost cause for now, Ash turned his attention to the mysterious object lying on the floor.

Picking it up and holding it to the moonlight in the window, he was shocked to discover that the object in question was in fact, a pokeball. Instantly the pros and cons of opening it rushed through Ash's brain, which was already in overdrive from believing it was in danger earlier.

On one hand, if it was a pokemon, Ash knew that Pikachu would most likely be more than enough to handle it. On the other hand, having Pikachu would do Ash no good if it was instead some kind of trap, or worse, a bomb.

After taking a moment to weigh out his options, Ash decided to test his luck as he enlarged the pokeball and lightly tossed it to the other side of his room. He immediately saw a light emerge from the pokeball which seemed to take the shape of a pokemon, but he wasn't quite sure as he was instead focused on the thing that was rapidly flying towards his head…

"Pika!" Pikachu wailed as sparks flied from it's body, seeing the thing fly at Ash and believing him to be in mortal danger.

"Ahhh!" Ash cried as the thing was merely inches away from his face. His screams were quickly drowned out however and he began to choke as if from water?

*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!* Ash lied on the ground hacking his lungs out; knocked off his feet from what he now realized was a water gun. The sparks around Pikachu disappeared is it calmed down after realizing the identity of the attacker.

Standing in all of its glory in the opposite of the room, was Seadra, standing there and admiring it's work, which was still recovering on the floor, it's coughing died down.

"Seadra, what are you doing here? You nearly gave me a heart attack," Ash groaned as he pulled himself back up into a sitting position.

With a satisfied cry, Seadra made its way over to Ash and Pikachu while flapping its fins. Ash thought that Seadra was just celebrating how good it had managed to get him this time, but as his attention was drawn to it's fins, he noticed a piece of paper taped to the side of the right one.

"What's this?" Ash asked aloud as he carefully removed the piece of paper from Seadra and began to unfold it. To his surprise, there was a note addressed to him written on the inside of it…

_Ash,_

_It's been a good three years. You've learned a lot and made all of us proud. However, now it's time for your last test, a final exam if you will. In all of your time here, despite all of your accomplishments, you have yet to defeat me. In fact, I've even kept score for you. Isn't that considerate? Officially, the score is eight hundred and sixty one wins for me, and none for you. You have one last chance to prove to me that these last three years have not been for naught, and that you have surpassed me. Meet me at the battlefield at the break of dawn and make sure you come alone. We will be having a 2-on-2 battle. You will be using Pikachu and the pokemon I provided for you, and I will be using…well, that's for you to find out tomorrow. I have faith in you, but do not think for one moment that I will go easy on you. If you do not come focused tomorrow, I will decimate you like I did in your first year here. I will give you one piece of advice that you would be wise to take if you want any chance of winning tomorrow. Refer to strategy Delta 09. You have been taking notes from our lessons I hope?_

_Oak_

Shaking his head with a smirk on his face, Ash picked himself up off the floor and walked over to his desk. "He would do something like this. Of course I'm not allowed to just leave for my journey tomorrow; he would never make it that easy for me. I don't think mom's gonna be too happy about that window though," he chuckled as he threw the note away into his garbage can.

Heading to the bookcase, he reached on the third shelf down and pulled out a notebook with the word '_Strategy'_ written in large letters on the front. _'Of course I took notes from those strategy lessons of yours, how else was I going to learn how to finally beat you?' _he thought with a smile on his face.

Pulling on a bookmark with the letter 'D' imprinted on it, the notebook opened to a section that was entitled 'Delta'. Scrolling down until Ash reached the number nine; his smile grew wider as soon as he saw what was written next to it. "And he would also pick that strategy out of all of them. That one's not going to be easy at all."

(The Next Morning, Professor Oak's Battlefield)

The cool, crisp morning wind brushed past Ash's and Pikachu's faces as they stood on the edge of the Professor's battlefield. Ash and Professor Oak's annual battles had really relit the professor's flame to the point that he decided to splurge even more of his earnings into renovating the field. The small battlefield the professor spared a little bit of his spare money to build a few years ago had undergone a stunning transformation and was now a sight to behold.

State-of-the-art bleachers and spotlights now surrounded the battlefield, making it possible for spectators to watch, and for battles to take place at night. There was also an opening in the bleachers on the north side which bordered the ranch allowing some of the professor's pokemon to have a front row seat to watch some of the battles. The actual battlefield, the regulation soft ground surface, was neatly painted with white lines, and adorned with a large pokeball in the center. However, the field also had another feature, one which truly made it rival even the Indigo League's fields.

What truly made the professor's stadium stand out was the fact that you could hold a battle in any possible terrain. Beneath the surface lied three more battlefield surfaces which can easily be switched with another, each one favoring the strengths of different types of pokemon. The first layer was rocky, mountainous terrain which obviously favors rock and ground type pokemon. The second layer was a lush, overgrown terrain filled with shrubs and high grass which favors grass, bug, or any type of pokemon that utilizes stealth.

Finally, the final layer was simply an underground pool that could be raised to the surface. The pool contains a few floating surfaces for pokemon that can't swim, but it's really intended to have great aquatic battles between water pokemon. Also, using a cooling system, the surface of the water can be frozen to create an ice surface, which favors ice pokemon.

Topping off the professor's stadium was the announcer's booth, and the large, HD scoreboard programmed with the latest software in pokemon battle technology. Being one of the foremost authorities in the pokemon world really does break the bank. Finally, by the main entrance, were two, fully grown oak trees in all of their glory holding up a large sign bearing the name of the professor's stadium; 'The Mighty Oak'.

All in all, the professor really got his money's worth as he now had one of the most luxurious battlefields in all of Kanto. The professor's love for battling had been completely reignited from his and Ash's annual battles. However, did you think that the professor invested all of that money just for his and Ash's enjoyment? No, the professor has already contacted the Pokemon League and plans to host future tournaments and showcases, bringing a little more revenue to Pallet Town.

Getting back to the moment at hand, Ash and Pikachu stood at the edge of the stairs that led up to the challenger's box, a tired expression on their faces, just as the morning sun began to peek over the Pallet hills. "Well, here I am. Knowing him he's gonna make some big, overblown entrance…" Ash yawned, but still remained focused.

Right on cue, two spotlights suddenly lit up, piercing through the still dim morning sky, illuminating the opposite trainer box in light. From what Ash could see from his viewpoint, there was a figure standing in the box, but he was surrounded by shadows from the spotlights. As Ash and Pikachu made their way up into their own box, he was able to fully discern the figure in the opposite box. "Oh no he didn't…"

Standing in the opposite trainers box, with a focused look on his face, was indeed Professor Oak, but he was wearing clothing that was about two sizes, and thirty years too small. His get-up was not too different from Ash, he wore a pair of blue jeans with a bulging button, a white t-shirt which was dangerously stretched with a red jacket similar in design to Ash's, and a hat with a red and blue pokeball emblem emblazoned on it.

"Professor? What the hell are you wearing? And what's with keeping everything a secret from me in favor of chucking a pokeball with instructions through my window last night? Ash yelled across the battlefield, now fully awake, and somewhat pissed.

"I'm not Professor Oak. My name is Sam Oak, I'm a pokemon trainer and I'm here to be the final test for your skills. Not that you stand a chance against me anyway," the professor said in a smug tone, playing his part well.

Ash's male ego didn't take too kindly to that direct insult. "What was that?" he said angrily. "I see what's going on. Why don't you back that up then with a battle? Ash taunted as he enlarged the pokemon he grabbed from his belt.

"I thought you would never ask…" Oak said mockingly as he pulled out his own pokeball. He was just about to throw it when suddenly…

"Wait!" A feminine voice boomed from the press box. A moment later, Mrs. Ketchum came running out onto the field in her old official Pokemon League referee uniform, which still actually managed to fit her quite well.

"Mom? Not you too! What are you doing here?" Ash screamed as he completely lost focus.

"Oh! Hi honey!" she waved cheerily at Ash. "Sam here asked me if I wanted to dig up my old referee uniform and call your big match! He said it would be a good chance to see you battle in person one last time before you go!"

Alarmed, the professor attempted to whisper to Delia, only to have it echo in the stadium for all to hear. _"Delia! You're not supposed to tell him all that! You're messing everything up!"_

Even Ash was afraid as Delia turned towards the Professor with a glare that could break even the mightiest of men. "**I'm messing things up? Who decided to chuck a pokeball right through my baby's window? What if some of those glass shards had hit him?"** she finished as fire seemed to radiate from her eyes.

"Eh-he-he, it was as an accident?" the professor stuttered out as he began to crumble under Delia's gaze.

"Oh don't worry about it, I'll be having a nice talk with you about it later…" Delia said sweetly with a badly hidden hint of venom. Pulling out her flags which were strapped to her hip, Delia signaled to both Ash and Professor Oak. "Enough with the arguing, I came here to see my baby fight! Are both competitors ready?" she asked, becoming serious.

"Yes!" both Ash and Oak responded as they gripped their respective pokeballs.

"This will be a 1-on-1 battle with both sides having two pokemon each! The match will go on until one side's pokemon are unable to battle! Green side!" she yelled as she faced Ash. "As the challenger, you will release your pokemon first!" she concluded.

"Alright then!" Ash responded. Turning towards Pikachu and saying that only he could hear, "Pikachu, I think I'm gonna save you for last okay?"

"Pika!" he responded enthusiastically, nodding his head. Ash turned back towards the battlefield and grabbed his pokeball. As he threw it a bright light emerged which took the form of a small sea dragon. "Go Seadra!"

"I figured you would start with that one," Oak mumbled to himself. Grabbing his first pokeball, he threw it onto the field and yelled, "Go Vileplume!"

From the Professor's pokeball, a large, purple grass-type pokemon with a huge red flower on it's head materialized. "Plume!" it cried as it readied itself for battle.

'_Shit!'_ Ash mentally cursed. _'If it knows that move this battle's gonna be way harder! I have to give it to the professor though, if he does what I think he will that will perfectly fit in with Delta 09,' _he thought as the gears began turning in his head.

"From the look on your face you already have an idea on what's coming. I guess it's a little better seeing a punch coming instead of getting blindsided." Sam taunted as he pulled out a small, gray remote.

"I'll tell you what though," Sam began as he pressed a button on the remote. "Since I already knew what pokemon you would be using beforehand, I'll even things up a little bit." As soon as Sam finished talking, a loud rumbling noise pierced the air as the ground began to shake heavily.

Both pokemon, alarmed at the sudden tremors, ran out of the battlefield to the safety of the sidelines. Just as they had both made it off the field, both sides suddenly retracted revealing a large pool filled with many floating surfaces.

After the pool had raised itself up to become level with the rest of the stadium, Seadra dived into the water and Vileplume jumped onto one of the little islands. "You know, I never get tired of watching that," Ash remarked momentarily breaking the tension.

"Neither do I boy, neither do I," Sam commented, giving the pokemon a little time to get used to their new surroundings. After a few moments of Seadra swimming around and hitting Ash in the face with a water gun, and Vileplume getting it's balance on the platforms, both of them returned to their starting points and took battle stances.

"Well, it looks like both pokemon are ready to go. Are the combatants ready?" Delia asked, raising both of her flags. She was answered with a nod from both trainers. "Alright then, begin!" she yelled as she swung both flags down.

"Quick Seadra! Use Water Gun! Rapid fire!" Ash yelled.

Seadra immediately began firing Water Gun after Water Gun at Vileplume. Water soared through the air at a high speed right in the direction of Vileplume.

"Dodge Vileplume!" Oak yelled, seeing the water approach at a rapid pace.

Vileplume managed to sidestep the first few Water Guns, but could not avoid the next few that made direct contact. However due to the type disadvantage, Vileplume was able to shake it off and remain standing.

With the Water Gun barrage finished, Oak yelled out to Vileplume, "Now! Use Sunny Day." As soon as Vileplume heard the command, it built up it's energy for a few moments, then shot a circular orb of light from the center of it's flower which sped straight up into the sky.

'_No!' _Ash thought as he watched the immediate sky over the professor's stadium light up dramatically from the Sunny Day-amped up morning sun. _'There goes half the power of Seadra's water attacks, and I'm pretty sure I can guess what's coming next…'_ he thought as he then began to feel the effects of Sunny Day as harsh sunlight began to beat down on the battlefield and himself.

Taking advantage of the new environment and finishing up his combo, Oak yelled, "Vileplume, Solarbeam!"

Needed no time to charge thanks to the sunshine on steroids, a powerful, green and white beam immediately fired out of Vileplume's flower and began to barrel it's way towards Seadra in the water.

Knowing it was game over if that Solarbeam hit, Ash quickly yelled, "Seadra! Underwater! Now!"

Not needing to be told twice, Seadra quickly dove underwater and swam to the bottom of the pool, away from the incoming Solarbeam. It dove just in time too as it immediately made contact with the surface, vaporizing the top layer of the water and expelling steam into the air.

Pushing his advantage and with a plan in mind, Oak commanded, "Keep firing Solarbeams!"

"Stay underwater Seadra!" Ash yelled, knowing it would be suicidal to surface right now.

Ash thought it was odd that the Professor would keep firing off Solarbeams when all he was hitting was the water when he realized, that was what he was aiming at! Not Seadra! As steam began to rise in copious amounts from the water, Ash had to strain his eyes to see through the steam, but he realized that the water level kept decreasing after each Solarbeam!

'_I need to come up with something before all the water's gone and Seadra's a sitting duck! That was really smart of him; dissolve all the water and think I wouldn't notice because of the steam. Wait! He's probably having trouble seeing too! That's it! I've gotta take away his sight completely!' _If you could see through the steam you would notice the light bulb going on over Ash's head as he came up with a plan to counter the professor's.

Knowing he had to act quickly before the water's gone if his plan was to work, he yelled, "Seadra! Close your eyes and use Smokescreen underwater!"

'_What's he up to?' _the Professor thought as he sat back and watched his pokemon vaporize the water.

In an interval between two of the rapid Solarbeams, Ash noticed a black, inky substance pour from a spot in the pool, and watched it spread out and mix with the rest of the pool, effectively turning all of the water jet black. _'Yes! Seadra heard me! Now, please work, please work, please work…'_ Ash mentally pleaded as he watched Vileplume fire of the next Solarbeam.

As soon as it made contact with the surface of the water this time, foul, black smoke rose into the air instead of the usual white steam. The smoke rose into the air, completely blocking out everything in the professor's line of sight, and even had the added bonus of neutralizing the sunlight.

'_Ingenious!' _thought the professor in horror as he was no longer able to see his Vileplume who was now stranded inside the thick black cloud unable to fire Solarbeams any longer.

Ash began to mentally cheer, thrilled that his plan had worked. _'Yes! Now it's time to finish it!' _"Seadra! Use Twister underwater! Fire it straight up!" Ash yelled, immediately coughing after from inhaling the black smoke.

Neither Ash, Pikachu, or Oak were able to see, but a horrible sound of water churning began to fill their ears and they all had to grab onto the rails as they felt something sucking them in deep from inside the smoke.

A horrendous vacuum-like noise then filled the air as all of the black smoke began to rotate, and then be drawn towards whatever was in the middle. They all had to tighten their grips on the railings as the suction become even more powerful. Poor Delia Ketchum had long since fled towards the bleachers, holding onto them for dear life.

As the last of the smoke vanished, everything looked up to realize that it had been replaced with a grotesque ink black, water twister that was rotating in the middle of the pool with Seadra at the base of it, struggling to keep it up. "Plume!" was heard shortly after the sound of one of the platforms breaking as Vileplume was presumably sucked into the raging behemoth.

"Seadra! Let it go!" Ash yelled through the rushing wind, becoming worried for everyone's safety. With a fierce cry from Seadra, the vacuum noise began to die down as the twister began to slow down it's rotations. Not moving fast enough to contain itself any longer, the ink black water fell back into the pool with a large crash.

After the water had calmed back down, everyone looked in to see Vileplume, with swirls in it's eyes, floating face up in the middle of the water. Next to it was Seadra, treading water with a proud, accomplished look on it's face. "Wow Seadra! That was amazing! Great job…." Ash began to say when Seadra promptly fainted on the stop from exhaustion, joining Vileplume floating in the pool.

"Both pokemon are unable to battle, this match is a tie," Delia said raggedly as she returned to the referee box. "Is this how you guys always battle? I didn't expect to be roasted by Sam and cooled down by a water twister! Just look at my hair!" she cried as she cradled her mutilated locks.

"He-he-he, no, they're usually not this bad, but this one's kinda important…" Ash said as he returned Seadra to it's pokeball. "You did great Seadra."

Returning Vileplume to it's pokeball, Oak looked on in despair at the murky black water. "Well you sure left me with one heck of a going away present; do you know how long it's going to take to clean that?" he cried with fake tears, dropping his 'Sam Oak' act.

"Says the guy who tried dissolving it all to hit Seadra!" Ash countered.

"That's of no importance…" the professor said brushing it off. Pulling out his little remote once more, he pushed a different button this time. "Oh well, I guess I'll just deal with that later," he said despairingly while the pool sank back into the ground and the original field returned.

"Are you ready buddy?" Ash said as he looked over at Pikachu. "Pika!" he replied enthusiastically as electricity sparked around his cheeks. He jumped out of the trainer box and onto Ash's half of the field where he took a fighting stance.

"This is it Ash, you have one last chance to finally beat me, but no pressure right?" the professor taunted as he threw his last pokeball. "Go Graveler!"

A large, round, craggy boulder with four arms was suddenly released from the professor's pokeball. At the sight of Ash and Pikachu, the Graveler's eyes lit up and it began to pound it's fists together in anticipation for revenge.

Eying up his own pokemon's odd behavior, the professor remarked, "I've never seen Graveler this excited to fight someone ever before! Have you two already been acquainted perhaps?" the professor asked honestly.

Slightly disturbed by the gleam in Graver's eyes and the motions it was making, he responded, "Well… I guess you could say that"

"Are both combatants ready?" Delia asked, holding her flag in the air once more. After seeing a nod from both Ash and the Professor she swung her flags and yelled, "Begin!"

'_C'mon Ash, this is do or die. He picked the absolute worst match-up for Pikachu ever! Graveler's not only a rock type, but it's pretty quick too so I can't beat him purely on speed! Pikachu's faster though so I'll have to dodge everything he throws at me, and wait for an opening…' _Ash wasn't liking his chances as he examined the situation.

'_How's he going to fight his way out of this one?' _thought the professor in amusement as he called out his first command. "Graveler! Rock Throw! Get him moving!"

Knowing Pikachu was in immediate danger, Ash yelled, "Quick Pikachu! Use Agility!

Although Ash had mainly worked with Pikachu on it's electric attacks instead of it's speed over the year they spent together at the lab, Pikachu was still a naturally quick pokemon which was proven as it raced across the battlefield with blinding speed while dodging the incoming boulders being thrown by Graveler.

After the Rock Throw attack had concluded ash surveyed the battlefield and wasn't happy at all with what he saw. Large boulders now littered every part of the battlefield and Ash realized with horror that Pikachu's speed advantage was just completely negated. _'Damn it! I fell into his trap! There's no way Pikachu can dodge while he's stuck in there!"_

"Well Ash, it's looks like we're having a battle on the rock pokemon field now instead of the regular one," the professor commented in amusement. "Let's see that speed of your's dodge this now, Graveler! Use Defense Curl, then Rollout!"

Ash stood there and watched as Graveler curled up into a ball and seemed to become even more bulky and heavy. After a moments, Graveler began spinning rapidly and immediately shot towards Pikachu with surprising speed.

Ash's thoughts we're immediately on red alert and he recognized the professor's choice of moves. _'Not good! Defense Curl doubles the power of Rollout! If that hits Pikachu he's done!' _"Pikachu! Dodge it!" he yelled desperately.

As the rolling tank that was Graveler neared Pikachu, he attempted to sidestep it to the left only to realize that a large boulder stood in his way. Pikachu then raced to right instead and managed to dodge the main force of the attack, but was still clipped and thrown violently against one of the other rocks.

"Pikachu! Are you okay?" Ash yelled in concern for his first pokemon.

"Pi-ka," Pikachu forced out as he slowly lifted himself back to his feet.

"Keep it up Graveler! Rollout once more!" the professor yelled, attempting to end the match.

Using the speed and momentum it had as it was still spinning; Graveler turned around and rolled towards Pikachu at what seemed like an even faster pace. The ground seemed to lurch as the rock type pokemon barreled at Pikachu at a breakneck speed.

'_This is it! I need to do something now or Pikachu's done! C'mon! Three years of training under this guy! There has to be something he taught me that can get me out of this situation!' _Ash thought desperately as he looked for anything, anything at all…

Time suddenly seemed to slow down for Ash Ketchum. He felt his adrenaline pumping at an all-time high. Colors stood out more; everything seemed to become more clear, so vivid. Something on the edge of the battlefield stood out to him that he didn't notice before. _'Are those, black spots? That's it!_' he realized, coming up with a course of action.

Time returned to normal as Ash yelled out his next command, "Pikachu! Use Agility to bounce off the rocks! Lead it towards the edges!"

Slightly confused but trusting Ash anyway, Pikachu darted towards the nearest rock and proceeded to jump on the first one, to another, to another, and to another as Graveler continued to follow.

It was like real life pinball as Pikachu and Graveler bounced off each rock. Eventually, Pikachu managed to find a somewhat open area on the edge of the field and jumped off the rocks to begin racing down it. Graveler was not far behind and as Pikachu ran down the narrow strip, he noticed that at some points he was running through black water?

Realization dawned on Pikachu's face as it realized that there were still some puddles on the edge of the battlefield from the last battle! As Graveler followed Pikachu down the strip, it rolled right through the puddles too, completely covering it water.

Seeing his plan of getting Graveler wet had succeeded, Ash could barely contain his excitement as he yelled, "It's time to finish it Pikachu! Use Thunder! Full Power!"

"Ash, I thought I taught you better than that. It's basic knowledge that electric type attacks don't work on rock types." Oak stated the obvious, not aware of Ash's plan.

Pikachu jumped on top of one of the boulders and turned around as Graveler continued approaching. Electricity began to crackle around his body as he built up every bolt of electricity he could muster. Compacting it all within his body, Pikachu released it all in a large explosion engulfing Graveler, and a good portion of the battlefield. Professor Oak and Ash both waited expectantly for the results of the explosion.

As everything began to finally calm down, Professor Oak looked on in horror, and Ash looked on in amazement, to see a victorious Pikachu standing on top of a toppled Graveler.

"Pikachu is the winner! The victory goes to my Ashy!" Delia yelled in joy at the great battle.

Ash immediately jumped over the railing of the trainer's box down into the battlefield and raced across to embrace Pikachu. "We did it buddy! You were amazing! After three years for me and one year for you, we finally beat him!"

"What? But? But how?' the professor babbled on in confusion as he returned Graveler to it's pokeball and walked to meet Ash and Delia in the center of the battlefield. He still couldn't comprehend how an electric type attack had managed to beat a rock type.

As he reached Ash and Delia, Ash turned toward him with a smug grin on his face and proceeded to say, "Hey professor… how does it feel to finally lose!" Ash shouted while attempting some form of a victory dance with Pikachu.

"Ash Ketchum! Be respectful towards your opponents!" Delia scolded her son by gripping his ear.

A grin spread across the professor's face. "Let him go Delia. He deserves at least that much for finally overcoming the person who's been beating on him for the last three years."

Shooting a glare at the professor while rubbing his sore ear, Ash whined, "Everybody's always gotta ruin my moments…"

Done with his complaining, Ash turned towards the professor only to find a hand outstretched towards him. Ash could feel the pride oozing out of the professor as they exchanged a firm hand shake. "Ash, I have to say, that was one of the best battles I've had in a very long time. I can now say that you've officially surpassed me, and I couldn't be any prouder. I know that if you keep that strong work ethic of yours and stay focused, nobody will be able to stop you from rising to the top."

Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment at the professor high words of praise. "Gee, thanks professor. I couldn't have done it without either of you though," he said modestly.

"Don't worry about it Ash, we'll talk about it later, but first I have to ask you a question," began the professor. "How in the world did you manage to beat Graveler with Thunder? I know Pikachu there is way more powerful than most Pikachu, but that should still be impossible!" he professor yelled, the subject obviously stuck in his mind.

"Oh, that?" Ash said as he walked over to the edge of the battlefield. "I had Pikachu run through here on purpose so that Graveler would roll through these puddles, getting him wet," Ash explained.

The professor pulled his hair in realization. "So that's how you did it! How didn't I notice that when you did it?" he asked himself rhetorically. After taking a second to vent his frustration, Professor Oak calmed down and began to chuckle. "It seems like you did take good notes in our lesson after all. I'm assuming you looked up strategy Delta-09 last night? Because you followed it perfectly to defeat me."

A grin took over Ash's face. "You know it professor! Strategy Delta-09: Using your environment and battlefield in order to come back from severe type, or statistical disadvantages!"

Another look of pride flashed across the professor's face. "You got it boy, now let's get out of here. We'll drop the pokemon off at the lab to be healed and I believe your mother has a homemade breakfast waiting for us at home?"

Delia joined them as they all began to walk out of the stadium. "Why yes I do! We'll have one more big breakfast together before Ash has to leave!" she said cheerfully, but you could still detect a little bit sorrow at thought of her Ash leaving.

"One of your homemade breakfasts is just the thing I need before I have to deal with all of those new trainers later today, Delia," Oak whined as they all left the stadium with the morning sun now high in the sky.

(Ketchum Residence, After Breakfast)

Ash and Delia were now in the living room going through all of the things Ash had packed one last time. Mrs. Ketchum still proved that she was the queen of cooking with the huge, delicious breakfast buffet she had prepared for all of them. Pikachu had even gotten a small helping of ketchup, and immediately after tasting it, had run out of the kitchen taking the bottle with him.

Shortly after eating, Professor Oak had excused himself saying that he had to make some last minute preparations in the lab. He told Ash to stop by after he had said goodbye to his mother as he had a few things that he had to discuss with him

Both to make sure Ash had everything he needed, and to extend the time they had together, they both decided that it would be best to go through his things one last time. "Let's see, you have clothes, underwear, a sleeping bag, a canteen, some containers for food, money, matches, and everything else it looks like…" Delia remarked, closing the top of Ash's backpack.

"Yes mom, I've been preparing for this three years in advance, I'm pretty sure that I have everything I need," Ash said confidently.

With a few tears beginning to fall down her face, Delia said, "I know you do Ash, I know you do, I just can't believe that this day is finally here."

Ash struggled trying not to get emotional himself. "You said you weren't gonna cry mom, you've got me all worked up now."

Wiping a tear out of her eye, Delia continued. "I'm sorry Ash. It's just hard letting go. These last three years have been amazing watching you grow and mature, it's gonna be hard not seeing you every day."

"I know mom, it's gonna be the same way for me. It's gonna be hard for me waking up in different places each day without you around. But you and Professor Oak have been preparing me for this for the last three years, and it's time for me to take care of myself and go see the world," Ash said, his heart breaking at the thought of leaving his mother.

"I agree with you Ash. I know that you're ready for this journey and that it's an important part of you becoming a man. Just promise me you won't forget about me here at home?" she asked, tears falling rapidly.

Now with a few tears in his eye, Ash pulled his mom into one last hug. "I promise mom, I promise I'm gonna return here a champion, someone who'll make you and all of Pallet Town proud.

Letting go of the hug, Delia beamed at Ash. "Oh Ash, you already have. Now I think it's time you get going before I start asking you not to leave."

Picking up his backpack of the couch, Ash smiled back at his mom. "I think you're right, I don't wanna keep the all of the pokemon waiting before I catch them right?" Ash joked which got a laugh out of his mom. "Speaking of pokemon, where's Pikachu?"

"I don't know honey, I thought you did, last I remember he ran out of the kitchen with the ketchup bottle," Delia said confused.

"Pikachu! Where are you?" Ash yelled in the house.

"Piiii-kaaa," Ash heard a weak response coming from out on the porch.

Heading towards the front door, Ash turned to his mom and said, "I think he's outside mom, let's go look."

Opening the door and heading on the porch, it didn't take long for Ash and Delia to find him. Pikachu was at one of the ends of porch, keeled over in a pool of red with a ketchup bottle lying next to him. Mrs. Ketchum, not seeing the bottle at first and believing Pikachu to be mortally wounded, immediately screamed waking up all of the residents of Pallet Town who were not awake already.

After calming his mom down, Ash grabbed a towel and began to clean Pikachu up. "That's the last time I'm letting you near ketchup anytime soon," Ash said as he wiped the last of the red substance off. "Pika!" Pikachu immediately shouted in protest.

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll still let you have it, but I really do need to teach you some self-restraint…" Ash noted as he picked Pikachu up and placed him on his shoulder.

Walking with his mom to the end of the walkway and onto the road, Ash turned towards his mom. "Well mom, it looks like this is goodbye."

"Yes it is sweetie, but like you said, I get to look forward to seeing you come back as a champion," she smiled with a few tears building up again.

Beginning to walk away from his mom and head towards the lab, Ash turned around one more time. "You can look forward to it! Bye mom! I love you!" he yelled turning back around to hide the tears falling down his face.

"Bye Ash! I love you too! Call me when you get to Viridian!" she yelled back with tears, heading back into the house alone…

(Professor Oak's Lab)

The tears had long since dried out by the time Ash was at the front door of the lab. He had just knocked, and was now waiting for the professor to open the door. "Ah Ash, I'm glad you could make it, come on in," the professor welcomed Ash inside.

Ash followed the professor into the lobby and sat down across from him on one of the leather sofas. He grabbed one of the two cups of tea he had set out in anticipation for his arrival. "So professor, you said you some things to discuss?" Ash asked.

Taking a sip of his tea first, the professor began, "Well, not necessarily some things to discuss as we've already covered pretty much everything, but I do have some things to give you."

"I've told you before professor, I don't want anything that puts me above any of the other trainers," Ash warned the professor.

With a lighthearted chuckle, the professor said "Relax boy, you've made that very clear before and I've never planned on doing it. Nothing I plan on giving you puts you ahead of any of the other trainers stopping by in about an hour," the professor said reassuringly.

Ash took the last couple sips of his tea and placed the empty cup back onto the table. "Alright then professor, I'll bite. What do you have for me?"

"I have them in the lab, follow me," he said as he got up and walked towards the lab. Pikachu decided separate from Ash and to go say goodbye to a few of it's friends on the ranch. As Ash followed the professor, he looked outside the windows at the ranch and reminisced on all of the time he had spent there. _'I'm really gonna miss this place, from all the pokemon, everything I learned, and all the memories I have, I really did have it good here…'_

Once they had reached the lab, Professor Oak led Ash towards one of the back tables. He had overdramatically put cloths over the three items that he had laid out on the table. "Well Ash, I have three things for you here. Pick a cloth, any cloth," he said in a bad accent as he gestured to them once more with his hand.

With a sweatdrop at the professor's bad attempt to sound mysterious, Ash pointed at the middle one and said, "I'll go with that one."

"Ah, good choice, for under this cloth lies…" he began as he slowly pulled of the cloth revealing a red, high-tech looking device. "Your very own Pokedex! I also had a memory chip placed in that has all of your notes from the last three years in case you ever need a refresher!" he said with pride at his own accomplishment.

Ash picked up the red device and pocketed it after briefly looking through it for a couple minutes. "Thanks professor!" he said gratefully.

"You're very welcome! I also had it updated with new software that allows you to call people from anywhere! Who would've ever thought we'd be able to do that? Now which cloth do you want me remove next?" Professor Oak asked him.

Still thinking of how amazing that new feature was on the Pokedex, he wasn't even thinking when he pointed to the one of the left.

"You want this one next? Alright, under this cloth lies… five pokeballs! Courtesy of me!" he exclaimed joyously.

"Thanks again professor! Now what's under the last cloth?" Ash asked as he put the five pokeballs in his left pocket.

A grin flashed across the professor's face, "I'm glad that you asked that! I personally think that you'll like this one the best! Because I know what's under there certainly likes you…"

Ash's face immediately lit up in excitement. "Is it a pretty girl to travel with?"

The professor had to laugh when he pulled up the cloth and saw the look of disappointment on Ash's face that there was in fact, not a pretty girl under the cloth.

"Professor, there's just another pokeball under there, didn't you already give me five of them?" Ash asked clueless.

The professor had to resist the urge to smack himself in the forehead. "I really do worry about you sometimes… Why don't you open the pokeball and see what comes out?"

"There's a pokemon in there? You said you weren't gonna give me one though! All right!" Ash yelled as he opened the pokeball.

As soon as Ash had opened the pokeball, he was met with a Water Gun to the face, letting him know just which pokemon the professor had given him before he even saw it. "See Ash, doesn't she like you?" the professor pointed out resisting the urge to laugh.

"I like you too Seadra…" Ash mumbled through his hands as he wiped the water off of his face. "Good to have you on the team," Ash said sincerely as he returned Seadra into it's pokeball.

"Well Ash, with that out of the way, I think it's about time you get going before the new trainers arrive," the Professor said to him as they stood by the front door, Ash with Pikachu back on his shoulder.

"That's it? No big teary goodbye? No you make me so proud?" Ash joked with a laugh.

"Please, I'm not your mother. And don't push your luck, you know I think all of those things already," he said with a smirk.

"If that's it then I guess I better get going, the world's waiting for me you know?" Ash joked as he turned and pretended to walk down the stairs.

Shaking his head, the professor said, "Get up here and shake my hand one more time before you go you troublesome boy."

Many different types of thanks were exchanged in the following handshake that took place. Thanks for teaching me so much about pokemon. Thanks for being such a great student. Thanks for letting me interact with all of the pokemon. Thanks for helping me take care of all of those pokemon. The funny thing about those thanks was the fact that none of them had to be mentioned at all.

"Go get them Ash; it's your turn now. Get out there and make a name for yourself," were the professor's last words as they broke their handshake.

"Don't worry; I'll make you and the rest of Pallet Town proud." With that, Ash turned around and walked away from his home away from home, and the closest person he could call a father for the last three years.

"I know you will Ash, I know you will," the professor said with a smile, suddenly feeling much older. He turned back into the lab and mentally prepared himself for the onslaught of new trainers about to arrive…

(Edge of Pallet Town)

"This is really it Pikachu! We're almost out of Pallet Town!" Ash exclaimed as he saw the sign signifying the beginning of Route 1. "Pika-chu!" Pikachu cheered, sharing in it's trainer's excitement.

The afternoon sun was very harsh today and was beating down mercilessly on Ash and Pikachu. Seeing a small stream and a few trees a little further up ahead, they agreed it would be a good place to take a small pit stop.

"My feet feel like they're on fire!" Ash complained as he sat down next to the stream and began to take his shoes and socks off. "Ahhh, much better…" he sighed when his feet were fully emerged in the water.

"If it wasn't so hot, today would be beautiful," Ash remarked as he closed his eyes and laid back, enjoying the shade of trees. For how long he laid there, he didn't know, but he was woken up by a loud "Pika-pi!" from Pikachu.

"What's up buddy?" Ash asked as he sat up. "Pika-pi! Pika-pi!" Pikachu cried loudly pointing upwards. Looking up, Ash felt his eyes almost bulge out of his head at what he saw. Flying across the sky at a steady pace was a huge, majestic, rainbow-colored bird that left Ash speechless.

'_Is that? No it can't be! The books I read said that it was only a legend…_' he thought, his mind blown at the possibility of it existing. "Could it be? Ho-Oh?..." muttered Ash as he pulled his Pokedex out of his pocket.

"_There is no data. There are still pokemon yet to be identified," _said the robotic voice of the Pokedex as Ash held it up towards the rainbow-colored bird. With an impulsive thought that would prove monumental in the future, Ash hit the picture button on the Pokedex, catching a picture of the rainbow-colored bird just before it flew over the horizon.

"Pi-kaaa…" Pikachu uttered in wonder, still staring at the sky where the bird had just been. "Wow is right buddy, you know what that means though, right? he asked as the excitement began to boil in his veins.

"It must mean that we're destined for greatness! Let's get going buddy! The world of Pokemon is waiting for us!" Ash exclaimed as he got up and sprinted towards the horizon with Pikachu right behind him. So with Pikachu by his side, and his new friend Seadra clipped on his belt, Ash charges towards the beginning of his new journey…

**A/N: And….done! As much as this part was crucial to the story, I'm glad it's finally out of the way so I can finally start the journey! Again, sorry for the long time between updates but hopefully this extra long chapter might have somewhat quelled your anger at me. Ash has now finally taken care of all of his business in Pallet Town, and now I can get to the fun part of the story. For all the original Pokemon fans out there, I hope this is bringing back as many memories for you as it is for me! Because now we're getting to the back to being somewhat similar to cannon with all of that original stuff done.**

**Speaking of that, for all of those wondering what direction I'm planning to take this story, I think I have it mapped out like this… **

**Kanto is going to be similar to cannon, with of course my personal touches and maybe a side arch or two.**

**Johto will be loosely similar to cannon. I will stay a little bit in the boundaries of the anime but I'll start to stretch it out a little bit.**

**Hoenn will be where everything is completely different. I completely lost touch with the anime when it got to Hoenn so if I manage to get that far, I'll either have to do a ton of researching or I can be creative if you want me to. I'll leave that up to you.**

**Sinnoh and Unova are wayyy to far ahead in the future for me to have any accurate plans about. I do like Sinnoh, and I'm knowledgeable about it from the video games, but anime wise I'm in the same boat as Hoenn. Unova, if I'm to be completely truthful, I can't stand at all. I tried to get back into the anime with Unova, but I dislike the characters, I hate the new pokemon, and I'm horrified what they did to Ash! So I honestly don't know if I'm going to even include Unova in this fic other than have Gary come back from it eventually…**

**With that said, I hope that you are enjoying the story so far, and I hope that you stick with me and read as I continue to write. Thanks again for reading, and please review! Reviews are a great motivator if you didn't know!**

**DBF out **


	4. Chapter 4: A Mist Over Viridian

**A/N: I'm back again! Nearly three times less than it took me last time too! I feel like I'm really starting to hit my stride as a writer. Honestly, this chapter was the easiest by far to type out. I can now sit down and hammer out about 4,000 words without even blinking an eye. It's great for me and you hopefully! I think I'm gonna try to keep my chapter lengths around 7,000 to 10,000 words. Is that alright with everyone? I'm also a little concerned about making my story a little too wordy and not moving the plot along enough. I'm worried that I'll get so caught up in the quality of my writing that I'll end up spending two or three chapters on only one part of Ash's journey. If anyone has any advice for me, please don't hesitate to leave me a review or two. I love checking my email and seeing three or four emails notifying me of a review on my story. It really brightens my day! Anyway, I'll address the reviewers, then on with the chapter!**

**animekingmike: I agree with you completely concerning the anime. And thanks for including my story in your community! Yes I noticed that! Enjoy the chapter!**

**lightningblade49: Glad to be back and thank you. Can't say I was planning on it, but I might incorporate that if I need another side plot. Thanks for reviewing!**

**partner555: Thank you for all of your complements. I slipped up with electric type attacks not affecting rock type pokemon. Thanks for pointing that out. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Nauran: Again, thanks for pointing out my slip up with electric and rock types. I hope that you enjoy the beginning of Ash's journey.**

**pokemaster4life4eva: Of course I couldn't forget the underwear joke! Thanks for reviewing!**

**saveme57: Thanks for reviewing again! I think you'll enjoy how I planned Ash's and Misty's meeting. Enjoy!**

**XoreandoX: Glad you enjoyed the long chapter update. Ash will do better in the respective leagues. As for how well, I can't say without giving away spoilers. Looking forward to the Lt. Surge battle? That should be within the next three or four chapters. Keep on reviewing and enjoy!**

**malefan: No the story will not be affected by the delay in his journey. Everything will happen like it did before, just three years later. I have plans for him catching a few rarer pokemon throughout his journey. I'm not gonna spoil that for you though. Keep on reading!**

**ToucanMan: I love your name! Ash won't catch all of the same pokemon, but he will catch most of them to stay similar to cannon. I was looking for 10-15 pokemon a region. Glad you like the story. Enjoy the chapter!**

**GaijinSamurai: No, I'm planning on having Seadra stick with Ash for the entire story. Glad you like Ash's maturity and intelligence. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Vital Info: I always look forward to your long reviews! It took me a second, but I did laugh at your shockrange joke. Glad you liked both the drama and humor scenes. I will send you a message if I need some help with Hoenn when the time comes. Enjoy the chapter!**

**LazyFoxLover: No I didn't give up. Like I explained in my last chapter I just had a really hard time finding opportunities to write. Most of you questions will be answered in this chapter. Enjoy!**

**xNamikazeKyuubix: I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm capable of writing an Ash/Seadra fanfic… I wasn't really planning on it for this story anyway, so I'm sorry if that disappoints you. Misty and Brock will of course leave their gyms to stick to cannon, but I plan on having better explanations concerning how they leave. Keep reading and your other questions will be answered in time. Thanks for reviewing!**

**awesomeness-rocks: Here you go! Enjoy!**

**Kaiser Haller: I'm glad you enjoy the story. Please keep reading and hopefully I won't disappoint you!**

**mamoswineFTW: Yes! It's good to be back! Glad that you enjoyed the chapter. I could have said daily, but annual covered it too, and I felt like mixing it up a bit with my wording so I went with annual. I hope you do pursue writing your own story. If you do, I guarantee I will be a reader and reviewer like you are for mine. Enjoy the chapter! **

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokemon! Do you? I didn't think so, unless you're Nintendo, Gamefreak, or someone else who actually does own Pokemon! In that case, sorry! Enjoy the story!

* * *

><p>The Prodigy<p>

Chapter 4: A Mist Over Viridian

*Sigh* "I'm so bored!" Ash Ketchum shouted which echoed through the scenic plains of Route 1. Ash and Pikachu had now been traveling for about three hours since their encounter with the rainbow-colored bird.

After his initial adrenaline-fueled sprint had lasted about fifteen minutes, Ash settled for a brisk walk through the Pallet hills, which were beginning to give way to the Viridian plains. The cause of Ash's frustrations however, lied in the fact that they had not encountered a single wild pokemon, or even another human being since they had cleared Pallet Town.

"What the hell? This journey is supposed to be the greatest time of my life! Where are all the countless pokemon I'm supposed to catch and befriend? Where are all of the precious friends and companions that I'll treasure for the rest of my life?" Ash exclaimed in exasperation while remembering the lectures Professor Oak had given him about how rewarding his journey would be.

Pikachu patted Ash on the top of his head with it's tail in an attempt to pacify him. "Pika-pi!"

Ash took a deep breath as he began to calm down. "You're right buddy. The heat must've been getting to me. We're only a couple hours in…it's bound to get better!" he exclaimed; cheering up. Turning his head and focusing forward again, Ash noticed they were coming up to a small clearing next to a decent-sized pond.

"Hey Pikachu, take a look at that up ahead!" Ash pointed out to his electric companion. "I think it's about time we took a little break from traveling. That clearing up ahead looks perfect for you and Seadra to get a little bit of training in. What do you say buddy?"

"Pika-chu!" Pikachu chirped in excitement at the chance to stretch it's legs out a bit and get a nice workout.

After about another minute or two of walking, Ash and Pikachu found themselves in the middle of the clearing. Taking off his backpack and setting it to the side, Ash unclipped Seadra's pokeball from his belt and tossed it towards the pond. "Go Seadra!"

The small water dragon materialized in the pond as the pokeball returned to Ash's hand. Glad to be out of it's pokeball, Seadra swam a couple quick laps around the pond as it took in it's surroundings. Seadra first noticed that something was up when it determined that it was no longer on the professor's ranch with the other water pokemon. Seadra was able to put two and two together and realized what had occurred when it looked over and saw just who was standing there holding it's pokeball. Seadra was just about to fire off it's ritual Water Gun that it reserved just for that particular trainer a long time ago when it noticed the particular look the trainer was giving it.

"No Seadra…there's another time for that later. I can tell that you've already realized it, but Professor Oak has entrusted you to me. And as my pokemon, when it's time to train, it's all business. There's time for fun and games later, but for the next hour or so I want you to focus and work hard so that I can help you become as strong as you can possibly be. Am I clear?" Ash asked rhetorically while giving Seadra a stern, but non-menacing look.

Seadra nodded it's head in understanding as it disengaged the Water Gun it had planned to meet Ash's face. Although Ash would never know it, Seadra's respect for him grew tremendously in that moment from seeing how he flipped the switch from cheery and carefree to commanding and serious.

"Alright, let's see… I know everything that Pikachu can do since I've trained him from the start, but Seadra, other than battling with you a couple times, I still don't know everything that you can do…" Ash muttered as he took up a thinking pose. "Here's what we're gonna do, Seadra, you stay here and swim laps around the pond while I go and set Pikachu up with what he's gonna do. After I have him situated, I'll come back over so I can assess what you can do now, and plan out your training regimen from there. Focus on your speed while I'm over there! Pikachu, follow me," he remarked while walking towards the center of the clearing; Pikachu right behind him.

Reaching the center, Ash turned around and faced Pikachu with a pensive look on his face. "Okay, Pikachu… When we left off in Pallet, you could do Thundershock, Thunder Wave, Quick Attack, Double Team, Slam, Agility, Thunderbolt, and Thunder right?" he asked while counting each move on his fingers.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried as he nodded his head up and down in confirmation.

"Alright, that's what I thought… That right there is almost all of the basic moves that you can learn without too much trouble. I'm really proud of you for working as hard as you did at the professor's to get most of those down in a year. However, I don't think you're ready for Light Screen or a couple other moves I have in mind yet, so I think we're gonna have to work on your natural speed, power, and agility for a while…" Ash murmured, thinking aloud.

This lasted for a few moments as the cool summer breeze blew through the clearing until suddenly…"That's it!" Ash cheered as an imaginary light bulb lit up above his head. "We can kill two birds with one stone! Pikachu, stay here and practice Double Team for a couple minutes, I'll be right back!"

To the common eye, it suddenly appeared as if about fifteen more Pikachu decided to simultaneously populate the clearing as Pikachu worked on Double Team while Ash made his way back over to the pond. Ash stopped at the edge and called Seadra over, who was still swimming laps.

"Seadra, I have an idea for training that will help out not only your aim, but Pikachu's speed and agility at the same time!" he exclaimed as excitement shone in his eyes. "Before we start though, I want to get an idea on what kinds moves you can use. I know from our battles that you definitely know Smokescreen, Twister, Water Gun, and Agility. Why don't you show me what else you can do?"

Seadra eagerly swam to the middle of the pond with a loud cry of excitement at the chance to show off it's skills. Seadra started off with a small jet of bubbles that it fired from it's mouth. After a few moments, the velocity and amount increased dramatically to form a more powerful jet of bubbles. "Bubble and Bubblebeam huh? That's good…" Ash mumbled to himself.

The jet of bubbles died down as Seadra began to focus in the center of the pond. Gathering itself, Seadra then whipped her fins around rapidly, forming an impressive-sized whirlpool which Ash could feel the water spray him from where he was standing. _'Whirlpool? That makes sense though since she already knows Twister…'_

After the powerful whirlpool had finally died down, Seadra turned away from Ash and began taking in a deep breath of air. A powerful, blue-ish, purple-ish energy began to form in Seadra's mouth. Ash's eyes widened as he recognized the sound of the energy crackling and felt the power emanating from it. Just as Seadra looked like it was about to let it fly, the energy seemed to sputter out and quickly dissipate, causing Seadra to slump over slightly from exhaustion.

Taking a moment to pick his jaw up off the ground, Ash finally managed to stutter out in pure awe, "No way… Was that a Dragon Pulse? Even though you haven't mastered it yet… that's still a very high level technique…"

Seadra seemed to shy away slightly in embarrassment from both botching the Dragon Pulse, and from Ash's high praise. "That's incredible Seadra! I didn't think you'd be able to learn Dragon Pulse for quite some time! Once you get that down, that'll be a great ace in the hole against your opponents!" Ash praised from the edge of the pond.

Though outwardly cheering, inside Ash's mind, he was already busy planning on how to best train Seadra. _'I know from personal experience that Seadra already has pretty decent aim with it's Water Gun at least. I'll only have Seadra work with Pikachu for a little while; then I'll start some one-on-one training so I can give Seadra a little more variety in her moves…'_ he thought as the gears in his head began turning.

Ash's train of thought was broken as he witnessed Seadra attempt to perform Dragon Pulse once more. Just as before, it looked promising in the beginning, but sputtered out as Seadra tried to release it. _'First things first, I should definitely have Seadra work on mastering that Dragon Pulse seeing as she's so close... Next, it would probably be a good idea to have her get Hydro Pump down. That would be another good finishing move. From there, we can work on covering her weaknesses. Maybe start with Ice Beam and Toxic to cover her disadvantage to Grass types…'_

Ash quickly put his thoughts to the side as he remembered that they were supposed to be training. "Alright Seadra, to work on your aim, I want you to pick a spot somewhere in the middle of this pond and swim over. Once you're there, I want you to stay in that spot and attempt to hit Pikachu with a light Water Gun while he runs around the area attempting to dodge. Once I deem you proficient enough at aiming while you're stationary, we'll do the same thing with you moving as well. Got it?"

Seadra gave nod of understanding as it quickly swam into an area of it's choice in the pond and established it's position. Pleased at Seadra's eagerness to train, Ash turned around and headed back over to Pikachu where he explained the drill as he had done with Seadra. He then quickly moved towards the edge of the clearing as both pokemon awaited his signal to begin from their respective positions.

Feeling that he was far enough away from the upcoming crossfire, Ash cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled, "Go!" Immediately things began to pick up in the clearing as Pikachu began to blur in and out of sight as it frantically dodged the surprisingly accurate rapid fire Water Guns that were coming from Seadra. For Pikachu's safety under Ash's orders, Seadra had powered down it's Water Gun to the point that it would only sting a little bit if it made contact with Pikachu.

Having trained with Pikachu as long as he had, Ash's sight was able to keep up to an extent as he watched the two pokemon go at it from his own vantage point. From what he was able to see, Pikachu was able to dodge most of the Water Guns, but every so often, one of the blasts of water would come in contact with Pikachu and a brief look of discomfort would flash across it's face.

Ash had to resist the urge to smile at the effort his two pokemon were putting into their training. His mood immediately began to lift as he thought of how much Pikachu and Seadra would benefit from this exercise. The excitement of adventure began to course through his veins as the beginning of his journey finally began to hit him. Nothing could possibly ruin the all-time high that he was experiencing in that one moment. Nothing that is, until a piercing shriek suddenly reverberated throughout the clearing, startling Ash and his two pokemon.

"Squaaa-ccckk!" The shrill cry sounded as if it had come from a Flying type pokemon. No later than a few seconds after Ash had heard the shriek, a small figure dropped out of the sky and landed in some light foliage at the opposite end of the clearing.

After seeing the figure crash into the bushes, Ash, Pikachu and Seadra all turned and looked at each other with the exact same look on all of their faces… _'What the hell just happened?...'_

Just then the bushes began to rumble as something attempted to find it's way out. After a few more moments of struggling with it's natural restraints, a lone Spearow finally emerged, covered in leaves and twigs, and with it's face dripping wet from water...

'_Uh-oh.' _The red light in Ash's head went off as he pieced everything together and realized what had happened. A stray Water Gun must've hit that Spearow while it was flying over and startled it enough to cause it to crash… Not seeing the potential danger as Ash had, Pikachu made it's way over to the downed Spearow to see if it was alright. "Pika-pi?" Pikachu uttered with a semi-concerned look as it held out it's hand towards the Flying type.

"Spear!" Spearow crowed in rage as it suddenly fired a point-blank Sand Attack right into Pikachu's unsuspecting eyes. Pikachu cried out in pain as it fell backwards, furiously rubbing it's eyes in an attempt to see.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled in concern as he ran towards his injured companion. Before he was even halfway there however, the severely agitated Spearow took flight and began to cry out very loudly. "Spear-row! Spear-row! Spear-row!"

'_Please tell me that's not what I think it is,' _Ash mentally pleaded, praying that he was wrong. Ash's fear turned out to be spot on however as he heard multiple pitched cries of "Spear-row!" pierce the silence, followed shortly by a very loud sound of wings beating.

Ash swore as he then saw the huge flock of Spearow approaching rapidly towards the clearing from their nests in a nearby tree. "Shit! We gotta get out of here, quick!" He contemplated trying to outrun the Spearow, but quickly threw that idea aside as he saw them converge on the exit, effectively trapping him inside of the clearing.

Just as Ash was about to give in and pray the Spearow didn't hurt them all too badly, he suddenly heard the professor's voice with one of the lessons he had taught him a long time ago. _"Remember Ash, no matter what else you do, make sure that you never lose your cool in the middle of a battle, or even in a tricky situation in life. Losing your cool leads to rushed, bad decisions; you must remain calm and find a logical solution for the situation at hand. There will always be one!"_

Heeding the professor's advice, Ash took a few deep breaths and began to calm down as a grim smile crossed his face. _'Geez, only a few hours in and I'm already beginning to forget what you taught me. Let's see, Pikachu's blinded right now so I can't have him safely blast all of these Spearow out of the sky... Wait, maybe we don't even have to fight, there's gotta be a way somewhere out of this clearing…'_

With that thought in mind, Ash began scanning the area for any kind of route they could use to escape. Looking over at Seadra, he noticed that she was jerking her body in an odd way towards a certain direction. His eyes followed in the direction Seadra was jerking, causing him to spot a small delta in the pond that flowed out into a river. _'There it is!'_ Ash cheered, mentally praising Seadra for finding an exit.

Ash quickly had to sidestep a diving Spearow which had attempted to impale him while he was planning their escape. "Here they come!" Ash yelled as he began to spring into action. He started with picking up Pikachu who was still trying to get the sand out of it's eyes next to him. He then raced across the clearing, dodging the dive-bombing Spearow who were getting more and more vicious with their attacks, and flung his backpack over his shoulder once he had grabbed it on the opposite side.

Having everything that he needed, Ash began to sprint to his final destination, the pond, when he noticed a lone Spearow standing in his path to escape. It was the Spearow that Seadra had shot out of the sky! Judging from the look on it's face, Ash could tell that it wasn't going to simply let him run by and make it to Seadra, who was waiting for him to swim out the delta into the safety of the river.

Prepping himself for what he was about to do, Ash strapped his backpack on to his back securely, and tucked Pikachu into his side almost like a football. Lowering his shoulders, Ash sprinted full speed towards the Spearow. As he neared it, Ash took two steps like he was going to the left, but immediately juked back to the right, narrowly missing the razor-sharp beak which Spearow had lunged at him with.

Having temporarily cleared the hostile Spearow, he took no chances and wasted absolutely no time running the rest of the distance to the pond. Ash dove headfirst into the pond with a beaming smile on his face at having successfully faked out the Spearow. _'I can't believe that worked! I thought only those huge guys in the pads I saw on TV could do that!'_Ash thought victoriously as he broke the surface and emerged back up from underwater.

Pumped up and with his adrenaline racing from his narrow escape, Ash grabbed on to Seadra with one hand and firmly gripped Pikachu with the other. "Let's get out of here Seadra!" Ash yelled in pure excitement. With a grunt of confirmation, Seadra swiftly took off and swam down the delta, into the river.

* * *

><p>(Route 1, About Half a Mile Downstream)<p>

"Man, I'm not getting anything today…" sighed fourteen-year-old Misty Waterflower. She was currently sitting on a ledge overlooking a river, hoping to catch a few Water pokemon today with her fishing pole.

Misty was a tomboy-ish, yet cute girl, with short orange-red hair she wore in a ponytail up to the side. She stood about 5'5, and wore red and yellow sneakers, short jean shorts, and a yellow top with red suspenders that had well… filled out a little more over the past three years. Her most defining feature however, was her crystal blue eyes, which perfectly reflected her intense love of water.

She had rode out to this spot on her bike a couple of hours ago hoping to catch some Water pokemon, but she had yet to have a single bite all day. "How am I supposed to prove them wrong and become a Water Pokemon Master when I can't even catch a lousy Magikarp?" she sighed once more.

Looking down into the river, she saw her three older sisters looking back at her, taunting her, telling her that she would never be like one of them. "No, I won't give up! I can't let them think they're right! I did not stay there those extra three years and let them treat me like that longer just to give up and head right back home!" she fierily exclaimed as her water-colored eyes seemed to boil.

"Now I just have to start out by catching something…" she moaned with fake tears as her demeanor did a complete one-eighty back into sorrow. Her fishing rod nearly flew out of her hands as it suddenly jerked harshly forward. A grin of determination crossed her face as she began to tug back. "I've finally got something! It's huge too!"

Misty battled with whatever was hooked on to her line for a good minute. The longer she went on, the more and more her excitement grew, which translated to adrenaline. With all of her built up adrenaline exploding on all levels, she pulled with all of her might causing whatever she had hooked to fly out of the water and on to the ground a few feet away from her.

"Aww man, it's just a kid." Misty whined; seeing the back of the boy as he was slumped over facing away from her.

With a low moan, Ash rolled over to face the source of the voice while rubbing his backside in pain. "Oww, what the hell just happened?"

"Cute!" Misty squealed with large hearts in her eyes once Ash had fully turned around.

Ash froze up in shock and didn't know how to respond as a light blush touched upon his cheeks. _'A girl other than my mom calling me cute? What do I do? What do I say? I bet I look like a huge idiot right now!'_

Just as Ash began to panic, repressed memories of his mother teaching him about girls flooded into his mind all at once. Memories of little exercises his mom had him do, memories of his mom telling him what to look for in a girl, memories of his mom teaching him how to talk to girls his age and others released themselves into his fragile teenage mind.

"Ewww…" Ash couldn't help the involuntary noise and shiver that escaped his body once all of those experiences had re-established themselves in his memory. Not that all the advice his mom had given him was bad, it just felt so weird having that advice come from his…mom.

"Oww!" Ash screamed in pain as Misty's hand made contact on the top of his head with a resounding smack! "What was that ewww for? Am I ugly? Do I disgust you?" Misty began to rant with a large vein pulsing on her forehead.

"No…I…please…don't…ah" Ash stuttered incoherently as he waved his hands frantically in front of him. Misty had her hand raised to hit him once more, but settled on giving him a harsh look before she bent over and picked Seadra up off of the ground, who was lying next to Pikachu in front of Ash. "You'd be going right back into that river where you came from if you didn't have such a cute Seadra." Misty then promptly settled for ignoring Ash and began to cuddle with Seadra while making cooing noises.

'_She wasn't even talking about me… Seadra you lucky bastard…'_ Ash thought with a sweatdrop as he watched Misty hold Seadra in her arms, all of her attention on it. Quickly shaking that thought out of his head, he turned his attention towards Pikachu, still lying in a heap in front of him. "Hey buddy, are you okay?" he asked as he slightly nudged Pikachu's tiny body.

"Piii-kaahh" Pikachu whined as it made a gesture of rubbing it's eyes while facing the direction that it had heard Ash's voice. "You still can't see from that Sand Attack from earlier? Don't worry Pikachu, hang in there. I'll get you taken care of when we hit the Pokemon Center in…" Ash was abruptly cut off as the sounds of wings flapping filled his ears for the second time that day.

"Damn it! They still haven't given up! Seadra we gotta go!" Ash cursed as he gathered up Pikachu in one of his arms. "Ah!" Misty cried as Seadra suddenly leaped out of Misty's arms and into Ash's free arm.

"Spear-row! Spear-row!" Ash began to sprint down the path as he heard the Spearow preparing to bear down on them at any moment. Making a split-second impulsive decision, Ash decided to set Seadra into the basket of the girl's bike, and tucked Pikachu into his jacket as he got onto the bike himself.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going with my bike?" Misty shouted as Ash began to furiously peddle down Route 1. "I'm sorry! I have to borrow this! Meet me at the Viridian City Pokemon Center tonight!" Ash yelled back through all of the Spearow's cries just before he disappeared from Misty as he went down a hill on the horizon.

* * *

><p>(Route 1, About Three Miles out from Viridian City)<p>

Ash could feel every single muscle in his legs crying out in pain as he continued to keep up his frenetic pace to avoid the Spearow. He didn't know how long he had been riding, but he was now running purely on willpower as the last of his energy had given out a while ago.

*Crash!* And to make things even better, it had just begun to thunderstorm. Not one of your average, run-of-the-mill thunderstorms either, the rain was pouring so intensely that it was hard for Ash to even see a few feet in front of him. The earth seemed to tremble from the intense lightning that was preceded by eardrum-shattering thunder.

"Gotta…keep…going… Can't…let them….catch up," he gasped out with his lungs feeling as if they were on fire. "Ahhhh!" Ash screamed as the tires lost traction on the mud causing him to slip and crash painfully into the ground. "Shit!" he swore in pain while the Spearow continued to advance.

Finally seeing their prey vulnerable, the Spearow began to squawk in excitement as they increased their speed even more to close in on Ash, Pikachu, and Seadra. One by one the Spearow began to dive at Ash, scratching him with either their claws or beak as they went by.

"Argghh!" Ash screamed in pain as one of the Spearow's talons dug particularly deep into the flesh of his arm. _'No! This is it! There's no way out of this now! I can't believe after all that hard work, that it's all gonna end right here…'_ he thought in despair as the Spearow just kept on coming.

Gathering the last of his remaining courage, Ash stood up in front of Pikachu and Seadra, arms spread wide preventing the Spearow from harming them any longer. "Just go ahead and try it Spearow! I won't let you harm my pokemon anymore! I'm going to be the greatest Pokemon Master that ever lived! And I won't let you end it right here before I even get started!" he proclaimed at the top of his lungs.

Seeing Ash offering himself up, the original Spearow, circling from above, finally decided to take it's turn with intentions of ending it. Diving out of the sky at breakneck speeds, Spearow lunged at Ash, claws unhinged, just about to make contact with Ash's head… Ash by now had closed his eyes, preparing for the end when he felt the tip of the talon come in contact with his forehead which was sure to be followed by death when…

"Pikachu!" When suddenly the Spearow cried in intense pain and lit up as it was zapped by an incredibly powerful Thunderbolt. Ash hesitantly opened his eyes and looked down to see the bird pokemon black and charred, twitching in pain from the electric type attack.

Looking to his right, he met Pikachu's eyes which were looking directly back at him. The rain must have helped Pikachu finally wash all of the sand out. In those eyes he saw furious rage at the Spearow who had attacked him, and genuine concern for his own well being. Shaking off the intense emotions that came with believing that he was going to die, Ash took a second to gather himself before he finally decided that enough was enough.

"Pikachu, blast those things out of the sky now! **Thunder!**" Ash yelled furiously, his anger from being attacked by the Spearow boiling to the surface. Feeling just as pissed as Ash, Pikachu quickly climbed up Ash's back and launched itself from his shoulder towards the oncoming Spearow. Suddenly a blue streak of lightning stuck Pikachu mid-air as it prepared to launch it's attack.

A round blue aura briefly surrounded Pikachu before giving way to a massive implosion of yellow sparks. An enormous pillar of electricity shot towards the sky, enveloping all of the unfortunate Spearow before blowing up in a spectacular, deafening explosion. Cries of anguish from the Spearow echoed throughout the entire forest before being silenced as they all simultaneously fainted, landing in a clearing adjacent from where Ash and Pikachu were.

All went quiet as the last of the electricity dissipated from the sky. The darkness in the sky from the thunderstorm began to clear as rays of sunlight began to peak from between the clouds. One lone ray shone on Ash and Pikachu, who were lying face up on the ground next to each other, relieved smiles gracing their features.

Ash couldn't stop himself from lightly coughing due to the pain he was feeling. "Man Pikachu, you really got them good if you hit them as hard as you got me," he joked before breaking out into another fit of coughing.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu cried in concern seeing the condition the Ash was in.

"I am a mess aren't I buddy?" he joked again as he looked himself over. Blood was dripping from multiple cuts that littered his body all down his arms and chest, courtesy of the Spearow. The cuts then gave way to his singed clothing, charred black from being caught close range in Pikachu's devastating Thunder.

Pikachu cried again in concern as it got up and made it's way next to Ash. Pikachu began licking some of the wounds on Ash's arms, attempting the only way it knew how to soothe it's master's pain. "Pikachu stop that, I know that can't possibly taste as good as ketchup. I'll be fine. I just need to get patched up and get a little rest and I'll be good as new. I promise," he reassured Pikachu as he struggled to get up.

Finally pulling himself onto his feet, he turned around to find Seadra, fainted from being in range of the blast as well. "No! Seadra was too close too! We have to get her to the Pokemon Center quick!"

Pulling out Seadra's pokeball, he quickly returned her knowing that every second counted. His muscles ached even more now and his arms were throbbing, but Ash fought through the pain and wouldn't rest until he knew Seadra would be okay. Scooping up Pikachu in his arms, he prepared to take off but paused for a moment as he spotted the wrecked remains of that girl from the river's bike.

"Shit, she's gonna kill me," He stated, unknowingly quoting the professor from when he had smashed in his bedroom window. Quickly burying the thought of what that girl would do to him when she finds her bike in favor of worrying about Seadra; Ash mentally steeled himself for the last two mile walk to Viridian as each footstep took more effort than the last…

* * *

><p>(The Entrance to Viridian City)<p>

It had been a relatively ordinary day for the Officer Jenny of Viridian City. Nothing unusual had happened other than the city-wide warning of two potential pokemon thieves on the loose. Officer Jenny crumpled up the wanted poster in anger as she stared at the two suspects; there was nothing more inexcusable than stealing another trainer's pokemon…

She was snapped out of her reverie as she spied someone with a Pikachu in his arms approaching her gate at a very slow pace. As he neared her, she noticed his particularly ragged clothes and a heavy limp, but could not see his face due to the way his cap fell over his face.

"I'm sorry sir! But we don't allow pokemon in the homeless shelters!" Officer Jenny yelled, making an assumption. "I'm not homeless!" the person yelled as he lifted his head and made his way fully into her sight.

Finally able to see the person completely, Officer Jenny gasped as she noticed the numerous wounds that littered the person's body. She was shocked once more as she realized that the person was only a teenager as well.

"Young man! Are you alright? What happened to you? Was it the pokemon thieves?" she blurted out, slightly startling Ash.

"Yeah, I'm alright, I just had a run-in with some of the local Spearow. I need to get my pokemon to the Pokemon Center quick though! And what do you mean pokemon thieves?" Ash asked, puzzled, losing his urgency momentarily.

"There are two criminals on the loose who are accused of stealing some trainer's pokemon. You wouldn't happen to know anything would you?" She said with a suspicious tone. "I mean, it is a little suspicious that someone would just come waltzing out of the woods with a few critically injured pokemon and some pretty bad wounds themselves…perhaps they're from someone fighting back?"

"What? No! I didn't steal somebody's pokemon! Now let me through so I can get mine to the Pokemon Center! They're running out of time!" Ash yelled, infuriated by the Officer's accusations.

"Alright, alright, maybe I was a little too suspicious in blaming some kid who doesn't even look a day over fourteen. Just show me your identification, and I'll even give you a ride there on my motorcycle to make it up to you."

"What? Oh yeah, the professor did say something about that, hold on a sec," he said as he fished through his pockets. After a moment, he pulled out his red Pokedex, and pressed a yellow button on the left hand side. A small picture of Ash popped up on the tiny screen followed by a robotic voice that said, _"I'm Dexter. A Pokedex programmed by Professor Oak for the pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum of the town of Pallet. My function is to provide Ash with information and advice regarding pokemon and their training. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced."_

"There, am I good? Can I please take my pokemon to the Pokemon Center now?" he asked as he attempted to walk past Officer Jenny.

"Yeah, you're good! But wait here a second!" she yelled as she stopped him, and then ran inside her Station real quick. A moment later, the garage opened followed by the loud roar of a motorcycle engine. Officer Jenny startled Ash as she suddenly pulled her bike less than a foot next to him.

"I promised you a ride didn't I? Now hop in, sit back, and don't yell," she ordered as Ash sat himself down in the passenger seat. Officer Jenny waited no longer than after Ash had buckled himself in to pull the throttle all the way back, leaving a large black cloud of exhaust as they flew forward at an intense speed.

"Whoaaa!" Ash yelled as he held onto Pikachu for dear life. "Hey! Didn't I tell you not to yell?" Jenny screamed over the noise of the engine. "I didn't think you would be trying to kill me!" he screamed back as they rounded the block and continued on to the Pokemon Center.

Back at the Station where the exhaust had just dissipated, stood a choking Misty, holding the charred remains of her bike behind her head. "Just how long does he think he can stay away from me?" she yelled in rage as she began to stomp towards the Pokemon Center herself.

High above the station in the dusk sky floated an odd shaped hot air balloon. The balloon seemed to resemble the shape of a Meowth. It too was floating steadily towards the Pokemon Center, the passengers on board with less than good intentions…

* * *

><p>(About a hundred yards out from the Pokemon Center)<p>

As Ash and Jenny continued to speed down the roads of Viridian at speeds nearly twice that of the speed limit, a huge dome-shaped building began to loom on the horizon. "There it is!" Jenny said as she pointed towards the building.

"That's the Pokemon Center? It's gigantic!" Ash exclaimed in wonder at the size of the building. "What did you expect? We're Viridian City! We always gotta do everything bigger and better here! Now hold on! It's gonna get a little bit tricky here!" she yelled as they approached the front door of the Center.

'_What could she possibly do now? My pokemon would've been in better shape if I walked here! Wait, where's the driveway? Why aren't we stopping? We're gonna crash!'_ Ash mentally screamed while his eyes nearly popped out of his head at approaching stairs of Center.

Showing extreme skill with her motorcycle, Jenny launched her motorcycle off of one of the handicap ramps, over the stairs, and through the automatic doors before skidding to a halt just a few inches from the reception desk and an irate Nurse Joy. What made Jenny's feat all the more impressive was that she accomplished it all while Ash held her in a death grip, loudly screaming in her ear that she was going to kill them all.

"Again? Jenny this is the third time this week! We have a driveway you know," Nurse Joy scolded with her arms crossed.

"This time's different though! This kid's pokemon need help!" she shot back, pointing at Ash who was now hyperventilating in the passenger seat after his second near death experience of the day.

Ash quickly shook it off as he remembered the danger that his pokemon, in particular, Seadra were in. "Nurse Joy! My please help my pokemon! Pikachu isn't that bad, he's just mostly exhausted, but my Seadra was caught in the crossfire of one of Pikachu's most powerful attacks and she isn't doing well at all!"

"Alright, I'll get right on it," she said as she took Pikachu and Seadra's pokeball out of his hands. She then picked up the paging system attached to her computer, "I need a stretcher for a small electric type pokemon, and a tank for a small water type pokemon."

After a few moments, four Chansey came running down the hallway, two with a stretcher, and two with a small tank of water. "Don't worry, I'll make sure they're all right," Nurse Joy reassured Ash as Pikachu was strapped into the stretcher and Seadra was released into the tank. "Take Pikachu to the Minimal Care Unit and take Seadra to the Critical Care Unit."

"Chan-sey!" All four Chansey saluted before wheeling Pikachu and Seadra back down the hallway. Turning towards Ash, Nurse Joy began, "And now for you…" "His name is Ash." Officer Jenny cut in, ruffling Ash on top of his head, much to his annoyance.

"Alright then, Ash, what I want to know is how you managed to be so irresponsible as to let one of your pokemon get hurt by another one of your pokemon? I thought holding the new trainers back another three years was supposed to stop these incidents from happening," she concluded with a disappointed glare.

"But Nurse Joy! You don't know what happened! It was an accident! We were being chased by a flock of angry Spearow and I had Pikachu use an attack to get rid of them but Seadra got caught up in it!" Ash yelled as he pleaded his case.

"Regardless, you have to be more careful, especially with your own wellbeing! Have you looked at yourself recently? You look just as bad if not worse than your pokemon do!" Nurse Joy yelled, angry that someone so young would put themselves in such danger.

"This?" Ash asked as he ran his hands across the lacerations and slight burns on his body. "I jumped in front of the Spearow when they were about to hurt Pikachu and Seadra. This is nothing; I would gladly take this and more as long as my pokemon are alright!"

Her temper softening after hearing of his heroic gesture and words, Nurse Joy put her hand on his shoulder. "Either way, you still have to be more careful… Now, while my Chansey take care of the prep work, let me take care of your injuries, follow me into the patient room," she said as she attempted to lead him away.

Grabbing her hand off of his shoulder, Ash looked at Nurse Joy with a commanding stare. "No, take care of my pokemon first, this is nothing. I'm not stupid enough to refuse treatment, but take care of me only after my pokemon completely alright."

Nurse Joy was about to disagree, but ceased after seeing the intense look Ash was giving her. "Alright…" she sighed. "Go sit in the waiting room and try not to find any other way to hurt yourself," she teased with a smirk as she smacked him on the back.

Ash had to bite down a yell but couldn't prevent the shiver that rattled his body from the pain that followed Nurse Joy's "love tap". "What's wrong tough guy? I thought you said that was nothing?" she chuckled as she walked down the hallway. "I'll be back to deal with you after I'm done with your pokemon," she finished, followed by the door closing behind her.

Never seeing Joy act so…fresh with a trainer, Officer Jenny took that as her cue to leave. "Well kid, I'm out of here. Good luck with your pokemon, and try not to be too rough with Nurse Joy," she joked with a wink as she mounted her bike and drove away out of the Pokemon Center.

"Why would I be rough with Nurse Joy?" Ash asked himself, not understanding the blunt innuendo. "She seems like a nice lady, and she's helping my pokemon, I'm obviously not getting something here…" he said, thoroughly puzzled.

Without warning, a picture of his mom with a victorious grin on her face flashed through his head. Confusing him even more, was that his mom seemed to be mumbling something…something about preserving innocence…anyway, the picture did have one use in reminding him that he was supposed to call her when he got to Viridian.

Walking over to the video phone, Ash quickly dialed his home phone number, waiting for his mom to pick up as the annoying _ring ring ring! ring ring ring! _phone_ call! phone call!_ rung out throughout the center.

"Hello? Ketchum residence." he heard his mom's voice say through the screen, the video not enabled as of yet. "Hey mom, it's Ash," he said, awaiting his mom's enthusiastic reply. Right on cue, he heard, "Oh Ash! Give me one second!"

After a few moments, Ash saw his mom's cheerful, young face pop up on the screen. What started out as a smile at seeing her beloved son quickly morphed into horror as she saw the condition he was in. "Ash! Oh my gosh! What happened to you?"

Knowing he was dealing with a time bomb that was waiting to go off, Ash had to watch what he said as he searched for a proverbial "blue wire", that would be able to calm his mother down. "Now mom… It's not as bad as it looks…" Wrong thing to say, Ash apparently clipped the red wire, and immediately prepared for the oncoming explosion.

"Not as bad as it looks? Ash, look at you! You're bleeding! You're burnt! You look like you're about to pass out! What the hell happened to you?" Delia screamed. Ash knew he was done now as he had never before in his life heard his mother swear.

"Mom, please, relax. I'm fine. These are just a few small cuts that bled a little more than they should have. Nurse Joy is going to fix me up right after she's done with Pikachu and Seadra. Please don't worry about me," he pleaded as he waved his hands in front of him.

Delia grabbed her head and began to shake it in worry. "Oh I knew this was a bad idea sending you out on your own. Day one and you've already landed in the Pokemon Center, beaten up and I'm assuming Pikachu and Seadra are the same?"

"Yes mom, they are. We just had a little bit of bad luck today, that's all. I promise I'm fine, it was what both you and the Professor taught me that saved me actually."

A slight look of relief flashed across Delia face. "I believe you Ash. I know we both had you better prepared than anyone else. You just must have seriously had some of the worst luck ever today," she sighed as she began to lighten up a bit.

"You don't even know the half of it," he said with a sweatdrop. "Anyway, I was just calling in to let you know we made it to Viridian safe and sound, even though it doesn't look like it," he joked with a slight chuckle.

"That's great honey! It took your dad four days to get to Viridian! He would be so proud of you for making it in only one!" she exclaimed, her worry for Ash gone.

"Thanks mom, I'll give you a call when I hit Pewter," he said, somewhat embarrassed.

"Alright sweetie, try and be more careful! I'll see you then, I love you."

"I will mom; I love you too, bye." Ash said as he clicked the telephone off. Getting up from the table, Ash began to pace for a little bit while his mind wandered. During his pacing, he noticed the large plaque hanging up behind the main desk.

The plaque contained four legendary pokemon, all of which Ash could name from his studies with the Professor. One of the pokemon in particular drew his attention, the fierce looking bird pokemon in the top right corner. After examining it for a moment, Ash realized with shock that it was the same pokemon he had seen earlier today.

'_There's no way I should have ever seen that pokemon though. People have spent their entire lives for centuries just trying to get a glimpse of that pokemon. Should I tell the professor about it?' _Ash's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the phone on Nurse Joy's desk. Ash debated whether or not he should pick it up, but he shrugged his shoulders and made his way over as he knew that if he didn't, no one would.

"Uh, hello? Viridian City Pokemon Center, can I help you?" Ash asked in a semi-formal voice after picking up the phone. "Ash, is that you? Hold on a moment," came the all too familiar voice of Professor Oak. After a second, Ash found himself looking at the back of the professor's head.

"Ah Ash, just who I wanted to talk to! Even though it's only been a day it seems like forever since I've seen you!"

Stifling a laugh, Ash responded, "You're right, it has been a while since I've seen the back of your head Professor."

"What are you talking about…oh, I hate this damn camera system!" he complained as he fiddled with a few buttons.

"There we go!" Professor Oak exclaimed after finally hitting the correct button.

"So what's up Professor?" Ash asked as he tilted his head to the side. A slight look of mirth flashed across the Professor's face before responding, "Well I was calling in to see how well you were doing, and I have to say, you look like you're really on top of things right now," he said without the worry that had plagued his mother.

"Those local Spearow are such a pain in the ass! You can't even train without upsetting an entire flock of them! I had Pikachu take care of them, but he ended up hitting Seadra in the crossfire, so we ended up here," he recounted while gesturing to the Pokemon Center behind him.

"Yes, I've had a few problems with those Spearow myself. You're mom called me a minute ago sobbing about how her baby was all broken. I call it a character builder if I do say so myself," the professor joked about Ash's condition.

"Yeah yeah yeah, when I come home I'll sick Pikachu on you and we'll see how you feel about it then…" he grumbled at his mentor.

Temporarily breaking off their exchange of light-hearted threats, the professor asked, "How are your pokemon by the way? Did they look good while you were training earlier today?"

A look of pure excitement immediately consumed the majority of Ash's face. "Did they look good? They looked great! I don't think Pikachu's ready for some of the advanced moves I have in mind for him yet, so I'm working on his speed and agility. Seadra on the other hand, giving me her was the best thing you've ever done for me! Did you know she can almost do a Dragon Pulse? She shouldn't be able to do that for a long time!"

Professor Oak replied with a knowing glance, "Yes, I knew there was something special about that Seadra. Plus, I knew you two would go great together ever since you kicked her in that lake almost a year ago. That Dragon Pulse is extremely impressive if you can get her to master it soon though…"

"I know!" Ash cheered at the thought of Seadra blowing other pokemon away with a powerful Dragon Pulse. "I have one last thing to talk to you about though," Ash said taking a serious tone.

Seeing how serious Ash was acting, the professor mirrored his demeanor. "Alright then, go ahead."

Pointing to the bird pokemon in the top right corner of the plaque, Ash said, "I believe that Pikachu and I saw that pokemon there, Ho-Oh, this morning shortly after leaving Pallet."

"Ash you can't be serious. That's a rather bold claim to be making. You know just as well as I do how long people have been dedicating their entire lives just to see Ho-Oh," Oak said unbelievingly.

Pulling his Pokedex out of his pocket, Ash answered, "Trust me, I know just as well as you do that I should've never seen that pokemon. But take a look at this…" he said he hooked his Pokedex up to the computer, uploading a picture onto the screen.

The entire contents of the professor's cup found its way on floor once he had received the picture on his own screen. He took a moment to scrutinize the picture very closely, before looking up at Ash with one of the most serious looks he had ever given him. "Ash, you have to delete this picture immediately."

"But why professor? How many people can say that they've taken a legitimate picture of Ho-Oh?" Ash asked in complete shock.

"That's the thing Ash; nobody has ever taken a picture of Ho-Oh before… Do you know what lengths some people will go to if they believed you had a connection with Ho-Oh? Now I want you to delete that picture off of your Pokedex immediately. I will print the picture out, and lock it up in a safe, but it's too dangerous for you to carry around in your Pokedex," the professor concluded with a solemn look.

"Alright, I understand. There, it's deleted," Ash said defiantly as he pointed out the small screen on his pokedex which now said _'photo deleted!'._

"Don't take it personal Ash. I'm thrilled that you got to see an extremely rare sight like Ho-Oh at such a young age. I just can't in my right mind let you carry that picture around knowing what some people would do if they…" Oak was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a doorbell.

"Oh, there's my pizza!" he exclaimed in surprise as he stood up from his chair. "I'll talk to you soon Ash, give me a call when you hit Pewter or something. Bye!" the professor yelled as he walked towards his door. "Mmmm, anchovies, spinach, and pineapple pizza!" Ash heard before the video screen cut out.

"Eww, what is it with old people and weird kinds of pizza?" Ash shuttered as he began his trek towards the waiting room. Before he was even halfway there, he heard from a doorway behind the main desk, "Oh Ash… I'm ready for you…" Ash turned to see Nurse Joy inviting him into the patient room with a wink.

* * *

><p>(The Front Door of the Pokemon Center)<p>

"I'm…finally…gonna get…that kid now!" Misty gasped in exhaustion from hauling her bike the entire way to the Pokemon Center.

"Where is he?" she asked to herself as she let herself into the Pokemon Center to find it completely empty. The only noise she could hear was a faint noise coming from a room behind the main desk. Deciding to investigate, Misty set her bike down at the front door, and crept next to the door in question so she could better he the noises inside.

She heard a loud moan coming from…that kid she met earlier? "Hold on Ash, let me put it here instead." Misty heard the voice of Nurse Joy. "Oh Nurse Joy! That feels so much better!" she heard Ash exclaim in ecstasy. "Don't worry Ash, I told you I would make you feel better didn't I?" followed Nurse Joy in a sultry voice.

An intense blush overtook Misty's face as she finally realized what was going on. Unable to take the embarrassment of listening to it anymore, Misty quickly made the decision to break it up. "Just what the hell is going on in here?" she yelled as kicked the door open and stormed inside.

Misty stood there in embarrassment with a large sweatdrop as she saw a startled Nurse Joy in the middle of adjusting a few bandages on Ash's chest. "Young lady! What do you think you're doing? Can't you see I'm in the middle of helping a patient? If you need me, please wait until I'm done!" Nurse Joy exclaimed in anger at being startled like that.

"But…I heard…you were…" Misty stuttered incoherently as she tried to process what was going on. "Get out and go wait in the waiting room! It's why we have one!" Nurse Joy yelled as she led Misty out, closing the door behind her as she went back in the room.

"The nerve of some people…" Nurse Joy shook her head as she made her way back over to Ash. "Now Ash, let's finish making you feel better…" she sighed as Ash could only sit there with a glorious look on his face.

"Thanks Nurse Joy! I feel good as new!" Ash beamed, his face almost cracking in-half from the smile that currently inhabited his face. "Oh, anytime Ash, anytime…" Nurse Joy cooed out of view from the patient room.

Ash, now all bandaged and fixed up, walked out towards the middle of the Pokemon Center, his misfortunes from earlier in the day now completely justified. As he looked out of the window at the night time sky, he remarked that this day would forever go down in his personal history books as one of his worst, and best days ever.

"Now I've got you!" he heard an all too familiar voice from behind him. "Oh shit," he sighed before he felt some heavy metal object come in contact with the back of his head, followed by complete darkness. Yes, this day was definitely still considered as one of his worst…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Done! Ash pisses off some Spearow, meets Misty, and has a surprise encounter with Nurse Joy!**

**There are two things that I'm positive will be asked a few times in the upcoming reviews that I will address right now. First is how Ash did not recognize Misty despite studying all of the gym leaders with Professor Oak…**

**There is a reason for that, and it's actually quite simple. That reason will be revealed around the time that we hit Cerulean City.**

**The second thing is obviously the scene with Nurse Joy.**

**You can use your own imagination with that. I'll leave it up to you whether or not you believe that something actually happened and if so, what it was. I actually have a pretty good idea for a hilarious scene in the future involving Brock and a flashback to this moment.**

**If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to leave me a review or a message. As I stated in the intro, I love reading your reviews! And I'm incredibly happy with the number of reviews I've been receiving! So please keep them coming!**

**I'll see you guys with my next update: Viridian Forest and Pewter**

**DBF Out**


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